


Consorting With Alphas

by sciencefictioness



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha Eren Yeager, Alpha Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Consort Armin, Knotting, M/M, Marking, Mating, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Omega Armin Arlert, Omegaverse, Polyamory, Prince Eren Yeager, Scent Kink, Scent Marking, Scenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 05:44:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5080000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciencefictioness/pseuds/sciencefictioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin, an Omega, has been raised all his life to be a consort.  An Untouched, deprived of physical contact, he is desperate for an Alpha to choose him as their own.  When he's brought to the palace to be the only consort of the crown prince, he thinks his life is perfect.  But there are dark secrets buried beneath his Alpha's kind exterior, and when they begin to reveal themselves Armin's idyllic new existence is shattered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Untouched

It was quieter than it should be, especially considering the light creeping under his door, shining through his windows, prying open his eyes.  The consort house was _never_ this quiet, and Armin blinked up at his ceiling, stretching as he tried to climb into wakefulness.  The smell of food had his stomach growling, and when he sat up he saw a tray sitting on his desk.  It was piled up with eggs and vegetables, a bowl of fruit filled so high that several strawberries had spilled over onto the wooden surface below.  Now he was frowning, because none of this made any sense.  None of the consorts got their breakfasts delivered to their room, not even the few Untouched like Armin.  They got up at the crack of dawn with all the other Omegas and helped prepare the food.  A consort was only allowed to sleep in if they were being viewed by an Alpha that day, so the Omega could look their best.  Rested, relaxed.  A royal envoy was scheduled to come to the consort house to look at Armin, but that wasn't until the following morning.  He still had an entire day to prepare, to secret away his belongings, to say goodbye to the others.  Though he probably would not be able to sleep tonight, once he lay back down in his bed.

Realization shot through him in a sharp wave, and Armin stood next to his bed, nightgown fisted in his hands.  The food in his room, the silence of the house, the late hour he'd been allowed to sleep until...  It could mean only one thing.

The royal envoy was coming that day, and not the next.  Panic rolled over him, swallowing him up until he couldn't _breathe,_ couldn't _think,_ couldn't _move..._   He wasn't ready, he still had to pack his things, he needed to talk to the other Omegas, he needed-

Armin's door swung open then, Nanaba forcing a smile at the look of horror on his face.  She'd known they were coming today, unable to tell him without facing the wrath of the house matron.  Armin could not blame her, not really, but her words had him shaking.

"You need to eat breakfast and get in the bath.  They've kept the water warm for you.  Your clothes have been laid out, and when your ready I'll do your hair.  The envoy should be here in a couple of hours."  Armin swayed on his feet, and Nanaba was there in an instant to steady him, one arm underneath his elbow.  She wanted to hug him, it was written all over her face, but he was an Untouched.  Any more than that and she risked voiding his status, and with a prospective Alpha on their way that instant, one from the palace no less, nothing could be worse.  He looked up at her with wide eyes, mouth stuttering over his words.

"I-I I'm not ready.  Tomorrow, i-it's tomorrow, they're coming then, they-"  Nanaba met his gaze, staring down into him, willing him to listen.

"Armin.  You've been waiting for this for years.  Your whole life.  You're ready."

He had been waiting, it was true.  Taken from an orphanage when he was an infant, so young he remembered nothing else but these walls, this house, these people.  They had been his family, as much as they could be in such a place.  Most of the older Omegas who had been there were gone now, living as consorts in various noble houses all over Shiganshina, and even in the neighboring kingdoms.  It was a prestigious house, even among those who trafficked in the Untouched, and Armin was lucky to have been brought there.  Many young Omegas without families ended up on the streets, dead or worse.  

Since Grisha ascended the throne things had gotten better for Omegas in Shiganshina, but the kingdom was resistant to change, especially where dynamics were concerned.  He'd outlawed Omega slavery, the only type of slavery not already banned, and broken up illegal harems and breeding operations with groups of highly trained Alpha warriors.  The so called 'Jaegers' raided underground brothels where Omegas were held against their will, and conducted random inspections of the legally operating consort houses to verify they were not doing the same.  Still, there were few options for an orphaned Omega, especially a male like Armin.  They were not unheard of, but rare enough that he would not have been safe on his own.  Not in a place like Shiganshina, anyway.  He knew how fortunate he was to have been brought to such a place.  Raised to be a consort since before he could speak, learning the customs of nobility from different kingdoms alongside his basic letters and numbers.

It was more important for an Alpha's consort to know how to greet a foreign emissary or what their dining habits were than to be able to discuss literature or history.  _If your Alpha wants you to know, he will see that you are taught._   So Armin did not learn about philosophy, or the sciences.  Instead as soon as he finished his first heat, he was taken to the Omega brothel run by the consort house where he lived.  Through one way mirrors and well concealed cracks, under the watchful eyes of the house matron, Armin watched the other Omegas do what would one day be expected of him.

Armin watched them _consort,_ with gusto and enthusiasm.  

As an Untouched, the Armin spent his whole life deprived of physical contact with others.  He was not hugged by his fellow Omegas, nor did his friends hold his hands, or pat him on the back.  The only time anyone was allowed near an Untouched was to treat an injury, or prevent one.  To catch him if he fell, or stitch up his wounds.  Years and years, over a decade, and Armin had never been embraced.  The closest thing to any physical contact he was allowed was when one of the others did his hair, and as one of only a few Untouched in the house, they knew just how desperate Armin was for it.  They combed through his long golden locks with their fingers, scratching at his scalp, braiding and unbraiding, fastening and clipping and taking it all down to start over again.

He'd broken down sobbing more than once, face buried in his hands, and it had taken all his willpower not to beg them.  _Please, hold me, just for a moment._   The reason the Untouched were in such high demand was their rarity, because few Omegas could endure a life starved of contact.  Armin could have given up his status at any time, thrown his arms around the Omegas he lived with and felt the heat of someone else's skin.  The touch of their hands on his face, the assurance of arms around him.  Holding him close, keeping him safe, even though there was no real danger.  He could be a regular consort like the others, or even work in the kitchens, or doing laundry.  Armin could clean, or sew, or help care for the young Omegas that were brought in.

But to give up now seemed like the worst kind of idiocy.  It would mean he had lived Untouched for most of his life for absolutely nothing, and  just the thought made Armin sick to his stomach.  He endured, because to throw all that anguish away, to admit defeat so close to to his coming of age was unthinkable.

When they brought him into the brothel with the aches of his first heat fading away, joints sore, body still on fire, and he saw these Omegas being mated...

Armin cried then, as well.  One day he would be breathless underneath an Alpha, too.  He'd never seen one before that night, never been close to one, never scented one. But soon, an Alpha would _feel_ him. Their hands on Armin's skin, their mouth hungry on his flesh.  He would be kissed and touched and held, laid bare as an Alpha claimed him for their own.  And not for just one night, as the Omegas in the brothels were.  No, he was Untouched.  All those years of suffering would be worth it, because someday an Alpha would choose him.  They would take him to their home, their lands or their castle or their palace, and he would be theirs forever.

Maybe one of many, but that was okay, too.  Even if he was not the consort chosen to stand by his Alpha's side, as long as his Alpha made use of him, Armin would be happy.  He would prove that he was worthy.  Armin would not let them regret their decision, even for a moment.  So he watched the Omegas in the brothel with careful eyes, committing to memory each heated caress, each breathy sigh, each lingering kiss.  Armin wanted to know just where he should touch, how he should move, what he should say.  

Whatever it took to please them, because Armin did not want to be left alone again.  Even if his Alphas eyes never lit up at him with possession, or dilated with lust.  If he took other Omegas into his bed, or forgot Armin's name.  Did not bind Armin with a mate's mark, or cover him in scent.  All that was fine.

So long as he _touched him,_ by the gods and the three sisters and all the stars in the heavens, Armin just wanted to be touched.  Anywhere. Everywhere.

He ate all the food on his plate, not tasting anything as he shoveled it down.  There was no time for savoring his food, not with the envoy already on its way.  _The royal envoy._   No one could say exactly which royal was after an Untouched male consort, but there were not that many Alphas worthy of a palace envoy without mates of their own.  The matron of the consort house was hyper aware of any high ranking unmated Alphas, by the very nature of her trade.  Armin could name them all on one hand with fingers to spare, though he had no faces to go with those titles.  

There was the princess Mikasa, who oversaw the Jaegers in their raids, but if the rumors were true then she would have zero interest in a male Omega. Commander Smith, King Jaeger's First Blade, was also unmated, though neither Armin nor the house matron knew of his orientation. That only left one person, however unlikely it might be, and it had Armin's gut twisting for the thousandth time since they'd gotten word of the envoy coming their way.

Prince Jaeger. Unmated, without a single Omega in his care, and openly admitting that he cared nothing for having a female as a partner. Well past the age of ascension at nineteen, with all sorts of nobles whispering in the shadows. _Why hasn't he taken any Omegas, the king is not young, he's fathered no heirs..._ They did not speak it, but all their supposition boiled down to one question.

What was wrong with him? 

Armin got into the bath, forcing the shadows from his mind as he washed thoroughly. Every single inch, scrubbed and scoured, and when he got out the other Omegas were waiting. He dressed in ceremonial robes, long and loose and flowing. Easily shed, because though it was not likely to be his intended mate, whatever Alpha had been sent to inspect him would not be satisfied with what Armin looked like in his clothes. He'd been told over and over, attending inspections of other Untouched. They would want to see him laid bare. Would open his mouth and look at his teeth. Tilt his face this way and that, ask him to turn, to speak, to move.

A part of Armin balked at being sold off like livestock, but he'd chosen this. Over a life of suffering, or uncertainty, but a choice nonetheless. His choice. The lesser of two evils, and as he felt the girls working their hands through his long hair, twisting it up on his head with expert fingers, he found he could not regret it. They shoved jeweled sticks into his bound locks, holding it in place in a messy bun, some of the strands deliberately loose around his face. All his uncertainty began to melt away, replaced with nervous anticipation.

For the first time in his life, Armin would be touched by an Alpha. That ancient part within him surged up, fierce and hungry, saying _yes._

Saying _please..._

.............. 

Being in a carriage was a foreign thing to Levi, the walls surrounding him strange and nerve wracking, and he was grateful when it rolled to a stop despite not being totally prepared for what he was about to do. Even when he traveled with the prince, he rarely rode inside one, both of them preferring to be on horseback. _The prince..._ He could still picture Eren's face when he'd first brought it up, those green eyes sparking and furious.

_'You want buy some child Omega for me as though they were a hunting dog. Are you going to check their hips? See if they'd breed well, Levi?'_

Some of that fury had melted away by the time he'd departed that morning, a cold determination taking its place. What choice did they have? 

Absolutely none. Not anymore.

Levi tugged his collar up high as he stepped out of the carriage, hand toying with the steel at his belt. Two swords, as was fitting for the First Blade of the crown prince. Soldiers always laughed when they watched him draw them, one held in an underhanded grip, tip pointed at the ground.

They never laughed for very long, though. Levi made sure of it.

Even he knew he was stalling, and Levi took a deep breath before forcing his feet up the path to the consort house. It was just one more thing he did for his prince. A task to be completed. A mission to be accomplished. For the good of the kingdom, but more importantly, for the good of the prince. Levi paused outside the front door, jaw painfully tight. He ran hands that did not shake through his hair, tugging on the strands, gritting his teeth. There was a taste in his mouth like copper, and only then did he realize he was biting his cheek hard enough to draw blood. Levi was nauseated, hands itching to draw his swords. To fight this battle with steel, but it was impossible. Not everything could be won with blades and ferocity, no matter how much Levi wished it were true. He shook out his shoulders, relaxed his jaw. Dropped his hands from the hilts of his weapons, though they felt made of metal themselves.

Levi would do what he must. Even if it killed him inside.


	2. First Blade

He had fully intended on bringing his men into the consort house with him, but then Levi opened the front door, and the scent of Omega hit him like a physical blow. He froze, bending almost double as old instincts surged up inside him, baring his teeth silently at the ground. Those urges muddled together, _protect, defend, provide for, comfort,_ screaming within his mind until he could not breathe. 

Not _mate,_ though. In spite of everything, even that ancient part of Levi seemed to know better. 

There were no Omegas in the palace, living there or otherwise, and it had been quite some time since he'd been faced with such a powerful smell. Levi passed them in the street, of course, or in the midst of his duties, faint tendrils of Omegan scent rolling past. This, however, was different. A visceral thing in his lungs, making his fist clench around the doorknob, a growl forming at the back of his throat. He lifted his hand, giving Eld and Gunter the wordless signal to hold. They did not ask any questions, but he could feel their confusion, could taste it in the air.

"Wait at the carriage. This shouldn't take long."

The two Alphas turned and headed back down the path without another word, and something inside of Levi loosened. Still he stood by the door, cool air drenched in pheromones brushing over his face, and finally he gritted his teeth even harder, mouth full of copper.

_Now or never, Levi._

Never was not an option, though he wished it were. There was nothing Levi wanted more than to go back to the palace alone, just as he'd left. 

He threw the door open the rest of the way, steeling himself as he walked through it. There were a handful of Omegas there to greet him, eyes downcast, heads tilted to the side just slightly. Submitting with everything in them, their bodies and their scents alike. It rankled where it should have soothed, and Levi scowled when the house matron stepped forward, the Beta offering a low bow.

"Thank you for coming, Sir Ackerman. I did not know whom to expect." Levi reached into his cloak, pulling out an envelope bearing the royal seal and handing it over.

"I am First Blade to the crown prince, here on his behalf. My word is his will, my steel his sword, my fist his fury." Words he had spoken countless times to countless people, ritual and rote, yet they had somehow not grown meaningless. Probably never would, considering where he'd started life. Levi grew up living in back alleys, his hand closed around a blade before it ever held a quill. Fighting dogs for his meals until Kenny took Levi under his wing.

He still fought dogs for his food after that. They just happened to walk on two legs instead of four, and they begged for their lives when Levi stood over them, his hands dripping crimson and his eyes set aflame.

Introducing himself as Eren's First Blade would never cease to make Levi feel strange, even after uttering the phrase a thousand times.

The house matron broke the seal, reading over it quickly, eyes going wide at what they saw there. Untouched were costly anyway, but Eren had been even more generous, offering well over the asking price. The Jaeger family liked having people on their side, even someone as inconsequential as a consort house matron. She started stuttering over her words, eager to please Levi in any way she could, not realizing her silence was more welcome than any niceties she could provide.

"W-Would you like some tea, or lunch before the viewing? I can have someone take your cloak, if you-" Levi cut her off, fighting the urge to stare her down as he was so often forced to do in the palace. There were no stubborn Alphas here that needed to be bent to his will, no conniving lords or headstrong soldiers. Just a room full of Omegas who looked ready to flee at the slightest provocation, and a well meaning Beta house mother with gold shining in her eyes.

"I've no time for any of that. Spare me the formalities, if you would, and show me the Untouched my master is interested in." The house matron balked a little, unused to dealing with someone as direct as Levi. She blinked a few times before composing herself, bowing again briefly.

"Of course. This way."

They headed through a door to the left of the entryway into a small room almost bare of scent. Nothing was done here save the viewings of Untouched, as was customary, and it smelled clean and empty in a way few places did. Fabric covered the walls in loose swaths of red, a large chandelier hanging from the center of the room, casting a bright glow into the open space beneath it. There was only one place to sit, a chair of red leather directly in front of that circle of illumination, and Levi sank into with a sudden swell of nausea. Across from him on the far wall was not a door but a curtain, and Levi knew it would be parted soon, an Omega emerging to stand in the light of those candles.

Small and fragile, with a scent that would bring most Alphas to their knees. Submissive, and graceful. Beautiful in that manner that only Omegas could manage. Gentle, and soft, and unsullied. Perfect for Eren in every way. Worthy to stand by his side as a mate.

It was going to be hard not to hate this Untouched, and Levi felt his fingernails slicing into his palms at the thought. There was very little chance that he would find the Omega wanting, physically or otherwise, as an Untouched from one of the most prestigious houses in the capital. Once Levi gave his approval, he would bring the Omega back to the palace. Lead him through inner corridors that had not seen an Omega's presence in years. Take him to his new chambers, only accessible through Eren's bedroom, as was tradition for a royal consort.

Show the Omega to his bed, piled high with brand new sheets and blankets, and leave him there to be presented to his Alpha.

And then, somehow, Levi would have to walk away.

Movement from the other side of the room caught his eye, pulling him back into the moment, and the house matron stood in front of the curtain, waiting for Levi to turn his attention to her.

"I present Armin, Untouched Omega of House Arlert."

She parted the curtains, and then after a few long seconds, a figure dressed in loose white robes moved into the room, stopping once he stood before Levi. The Omega was blond, his long hair coiled up on top of his head, strands falling out to frame his delicate face. Levi had the urge to brush them back, tuck them behind his ears. Let his fingers linger on the pale skin of his cheek, see if it turned pink under his attention.

 _Gods,_ was this what the presence of an Omega did to him after so long away? Levi couldn't help but stare at the Untouched with furrowed brows, as though he were some sort of puzzle that needed working. His eyes were bolted into the ground, hands fisted in his robes, head tilted far to the side to expose his throat. Levi had never seen an Omega submit so fully without falling to their knees. He wasn't sure how he did it, conveying such utter obedience with nothing more than the angle of his head, but then the scent hit him. Levi was standing in an instant, fists clenched at his sides.

By the sisters and all the heavens, this Omega smelled _clean._ No trace of anyone's scent but his own, and it was pure and bright. Like nothing Levi had ever smelled before, and he wanted to drown it in his own. Sink his teeth into that unmarred skin, taste the oil of that Omegan scent on his tongue. Rub their necks together, growling out his dominance. Mark him, and mate him.

Carry him back to Eren like a new bride so that he could do the same. Both of them making vicious noises while this Omega mewled between them, and it took the house matron clearing her throat for Levi to realize he was, in fact, making those sounds already.

Growling low in his throat, eyes that lit up with want throwing shadows into the room, and instead of gathering himself he turned towards the Beta and _hissed,_ teeth bared with the promise of violence. She took an unconscious step backwards, dropping her head low, and a dark part of Levi reveled in victory before turning his gaze back to the Omega before him. There was no fear in his scent, in spite of all the savage noises Levi was making. Just anticipation, along with something... richer, that Levi could not quite place. He reached out without thinking, fingers slipping underneath the Omega's chin, trying to draw his eyes up. He allowed his face to be lifted higher but kept his gaze on the floor, lids almost closed, and that would not do. Levi needed to see his eyes, needed to know what color they were. Brown? Hazel? When he spoke there was heat in his voice, and he felt the Untouched shudder beneath the words.

"Omega. Look at me." _Armin._ His name was Armin. 

It was a command, gentle but unwavering, and when the Omega's eyes came up to meet Levi's his breath caught in his chest. Blue. They were blue, and wide, and bright, like nothing he'd ever laid eyes on. No cloudless skies or summer waters could compare. Hazy with emotion, though what it was Levi couldn't say. The Omega was shoving his face into Levi's touch, and he slid his hand up towards that smooth cheek, splaying his fingers out over it. Armin's eyes fell closed, breath coming faster as the Omega leaned into Levi's hand, a whimpering noise falling from his lips unbidden. The skin underneath his palm turned pink, a blush creeping down Armin's neck, underneath his clothes, and Levi wondered how far down it went. His collarbones, his chest? Was all of this Omega flushed bright and hot, from just Levi's hand on his face?

Levi wasn't sure when Armin had opened his eyes again, but he seemed to notice Levi's gaze. Easing over his body, trying to bore down into those robes, and the Omega reached down and started untying his sash. When Levi saw what he was doing, fabric begging to slip off those thin shoulders, Levi grabbed his wrists to still him.

"What are you doing?" Armin looked at the ground again, blush going impossibly darker, and when he spoke his voice hit Levi hard in his gut.

"Allowing you to view me fully on behalf of your master, if it pleases you, Alpha." _Fuck,_ Levi could listen to him talk for _days,_ what was _wrong_ with him? But he did not want the Omega to strip down in front of so many watchful eyes as though he were nothing more than the sum of his parts. Not a person, but an object, and Levi shook his head. Why did it bother him so much? He was aware of how these things worked, yet the idea of this boy disrobing had him feeling territorial and furious. This Untouched was not _his,_ nor should he want such a thing.

Levi did not need to desire yet another person he could not keep for his own.

"I'm sure you are magnificent, Omega. I've no need to see you now. You please me just as you are." 

Armin froze at Levi's touch, body quaking for a moment until he pulled back his hands. Finally he nodded, eyes shining with what a Levi thought might be tears, retying his sash and putting his robes in place under Levi's heavy gaze. Why did the Omega look like he might cry? Had Levi insulted him somehow by refusing to look at him undressed? His hands had been trembling when he tried to remove his clothes, though, the Omega's scent growing more frantic. No, there was something else pulling up emotion in him, but Levi did not have the cleverness to work out what it was right then. They stood there awhile, both of them silent and unsure, and Levi realized he was staring like an idiot. He turned to face the house matron, who looked up at him warily.

"I trust everything is in order here? You can contact the palace treasury at any time to procure your payment." Levi glanced at Armin, catching his gaze. "Are your things packed?" The Omega opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by the house matron.

"We've already taken care of packing his bags while he was getting ready, they're in the front hallw-" Levi shot the woman a vicious glare, silencing her instantly.

"Was I talking to you, house mother?" She withered under his stare, shrinking into herself, and he faced the Omega again with a softer expression. "I take it they've packed your belongings. Did you want to go double check one last time? I don't want to come back if it can be avoided." Armin hesitated, glancing between Levi and the house matron, nerves written plainly across his face. It was obvious the Omega wanted to go back to his room, and just as obvious that the house matron did not want that, for whatever reason. Levi stepped in close, tilting that pretty face up to his again, speaking in a voice too low for anyone else to hear. "Don't worry about her. Show me to your quarters, Omega."

Armin's scent riled up in the air between them, thick with want, and he stumbled over his feet trying to lead the way. When Levi caught Armin before he hit the ground, an arm around his chest, the Omega let out a breathy whine that had nothing to do with pain or panic. Levi bit back an answering growl, wishing with all that he was that Eren had come on this errand instead and spared Levi all this fresh misery. This Omega was taking from Levi all he held dear, not with steel or claws, but with _submission._ With his very nature, each part of Armin made for an Alpha such as Eren.

Everything Levi would never be, and he could not even hate the boy for it. The taste of blood in his mouth was becoming achingly familiar, and it took deliberate effort to free Levi's cheek from his teeth.

 _By all the gods in all the heavens, just let me get back home._

..................

The carriage ride back to the palace seemed rougher than before, possibly due to the Omega sitting across from Levi, jolting with every bump they hit. It was readily apparent he'd never ridden in one, and the scent of his nerves had Levi on edge. When they'd gone into Armin's room, most of his belongings had been packed already, but there were a few pieces of jewelry left behind that he seemed keen on taking. Then the Omega stood by the bed, looking at Levi with a guilty expression, fidgeting and uncertain. He just sighed, making a dismissive gesture.

_If you're going to take something they'll miss, I don't give a shit. What are they going to do, storm the palace over a necklace? They'll be getting enough money to replace it, trust me._

Then the Omega reached beneath his mattress and pulled out a _book,_ of all things, small and battered, tucking it into his robe as though it were dangerous contraband. Fussed with the fabric of his clothes until it fell smoothly, no trace of the hard edges of the volume showing. Levi had seen people hide opium or illegal uncut stones in the underground with less care than the Omega used to tuck away a worthless bundle of paper. He made a note to ask about it later. Much later, probably. There were questions on the tip of Levi's tongue aching to be spoken, but Armin seemed nervous enough as it was without being subjected to an inquisition. The first Alpha he'd ever come into direct contact with, if all the things that were said about Untouched were true. They made the trip in tense silence, and each turn of the wheels bringing them closer to their destination felt like swimming into ever deeper waters.

Once they reached home, Levi would surely drown.

By the time they pulled through the palace gates, Eld giving a few taps on the top of the carriage to inform Levi of their arrival, the sun was dropping low in the winter sky. It had taken longer than he'd anticipated to load up the Omegas clothing and weave their way through the busy streets of the capital. They rolled to a stop near one of the rear entrances out of habit, used mostly by military officers and palace guards, and Levi realized that the Omega would probably never use these doors again. 

Armin would only ever leave the palace by Eren's side for functions attended by nobility or various affairs of the state. It was considered unseemly for the mate of a royal to use what was, in essence, a servants entrance. Even Levi's own thoughts seemed determine to remind him of his place, and he fought back a sigh as he helped the Omega down from the carriage. Armin did not release his hand once his feet were on the ground, cowering closer to Levi, and it took a few moments of confusion for him to figure out why.

 _Alphas._ Eld and Gunter were nearby, along with a handful of Alpha guards loitering around the doors, done with their duties for the day. Instead of heading towards their barracks for the night they lingered, curious about the presence of an Omega in the palace. An Omega who was clinging to _Levi_ of all people, putting off frightened scents and trying to hide behind him. A snarl ripped its way out of his throat, and the Alphas were hurrying away in the opposite direction, eyes downcast. Even his own men fled, Eld mumbling out something about reporting to the stable master before rushing off while Gunter began unloading the Omega's luggage for the various servants of the house to take inside. Levi glanced down at Armin where the Omega clutched at his arm, feeling fiercely protective. _The very idea that they would dare frighten him, he belongs to-_

Levi cut off his thoughts. Thoughts that sought to claim this Omega, not for his own, but for him and Eren. Not _mine,_ but _ours,_ and fuck, but Levi needed to be far away from this boy, and right now. Neither he nor the prince he would mate belonged to Levi.

Never had. Never would.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room." Armin nodded silently as they entered the palace, and Levi wanted to shake him for it. They traversed empty, winding corridors wordlessly, passing the occasional guard at their post, shoes clicking over the marble. _Speak,_ he thought. _Let me hear your voice, it's beautiful._

Levi wondered if it would filter through the wall tonight, calling out Eren's name in ecstasy. _Fuck._

Levi knew what the traditions were for high ranking Alphas and their new mates, especially the Untouched, which he had insisted upon. It would be hard enough on an Omega at the prince's side, no matter their upbringing. Coming into the palace as an Untouched would make things easier, leaving no room for snobbish royals with unmated Omega children to complain about their suitability for the prince. When an Untouched was selected for an Alpha, they were brought from the viewing straight to their new bedchamber, which they would not leave until after they were _presented._

 _Presented,_ in practice, meant _mated,_ and an Untouched would expect nothing less from their new Alpha. 

_Damn it to every hell,_ this had been Levi's idea. For Eren to take an Omega into his bed, to bond him, to mate him. Divert all those curious stares to his consort, instead of his First Blade. 

To protect Eren in any way he could, whether it was from a sword in his back or the perils of court. An unmated heir to the throne, of marrying age, was unheard of in Shiganshina and the surrounding kingdoms. Let alone one who did not like females, and spent countless hours with his First Blade instead of the lords and ladies who sought his favor. A First Blade who was not a noble, or the son of a foreign dignitary, despite everyone who would kill for such an honor. No, Eren's chosen defender was a commoner who'd climbed his way up from the gutters to stand on even ground with the prince. 

It took years for nobles outside of the Jaeger family to stop spitting on the ground after he walked by. Now those eyes were on the pair again, not full of disgust, but laced with suspicion. Several nearby kingdoms were embroiled in unrest, both internal and otherwise. With their neighbors on edge, war looming on the horizon, the last thing the Jaeger family needed were distrustful nobles. This Omega was a necessary evil, something that had to be endured for the good of his prince.

But there was nothing _evil_ about Armin. He followed after Levi with a fist curled into Levi's sleeve, his other hand resting on the book tucked into his robes, radiating nervous energy. Biting his lip, eyes darting around, scent thick in the air... Armin was almost quaking. Levi wanted to blame him for existing. Wanted to hate him, so much he could taste it in his mouth.

Levi was incapable of hating this boy. He fought the urge to take Armin's hand in his own, whisper into his knuckles, _everything's going to be okay._ Pulled his collar up higher, as he always was lately.

Trying to hide a mark that shouldn't be there. A mark that should be impossible, yet there it was staring at Levi every morning when he looked in the mirror. Just as Eren wore on the side of his throat now, waiting to be discovered. 

When they got to Eren's door Levi hesitated, eyes wrenching shut, hands curling into fists. No one but Levi and Eren came into this room, not even servants. Levi cleaned it himself, dropping off laundry and dishes where they needed to be, changing the sheets, dusting the desk and shelves. Filling up lanterns with oil, and keeping fresh candles ready. If Eren requested food brought to his quarters, it was left on a table in the hallway. Levi could not even remember the last time someone else had entered this place.

It was _theirs._ It belonged to _them._ Now this Omega was here to trample over everything that Levi held sacred, not realizing every step he took was a knife in the Levi's chest. 

Levi took a deep breath, holding it in as long as he could. _Not his fault. Not his fault._ He let the air out in a rush, Armin looking at him cautiously, eyes directed somewhere around his waist for fear of meeting the Levi's gaze too directly. Levi opened the door and stepped into the room, chest aching. He led Armin down a small hallway that opened into the prince's bedroom, refusing to allow his eyes fall on the bed. Levi moved past it, heading straight for the open door in the corner that took them to the consort's chambers. All of the larger quarters had them, smaller areas that were meant for the chosen mates of princes, lords, and high ranking military officials. It was not unheard of for an Omega to bed down with their Alpha, but many did not. This particular room had been empty until recently, full of nothing but dust and cobwebs.

Levi cleaned it, and filled it up with furniture and goods befitting the only consort of the crown prince under the queen's supervision. A wardrobe large enough to hold Armin's clothing, a vanity covered with jewelry boxes, overflowing with necklaces and rings and bracelets and hairpins chosen by the queen herself. Jewelry that had never been worn by another person, shining and perfect, along with combs and brushes with stones inset in the handles. Another box pull of ointments and tinctures and medicinal herbs and teas, to treat any common ailment that might befall an Omega or relieve the symptoms of their heat. A tea set of intricate porcelain, empty shelves to be filled with books, should Armin desire. A chess board with pieces wrought from marble, thick rugs laid out over the floor to keep away the chill of the stone. There was a washroom in the corner with a bathtub big enough for two, water running through its taps. Scented soaps, and oils, and lotions. Both the washroom and the main area were littered with scented candles, lavender and rose and some that, somehow, smelled like the ocean. On the beside table sat a bell to call for servants, more traditional that practical, but with a loud, clear sound. Paintings on the walls, waterfalls and forests and ice covered streams. Lanterns and candelabra and couches so lush it was hard to climb out of them. 

A soft new bed made up nice and neat, piled high with blankets and pillows, just waiting for Eren to fuck them into disarray.

Armin sat down on the edge of the mattress, glancing up at Levi uncertainly, taking in his surroundings with wide eyes. Levi found he couldn't look at him, staring at the ceiling, the floor, the walls. Anywhere but the Omega before him, looking as though he was born to be between royal sheets. At home amidst all the luxuries the palace had to offer, too perfect for anything else. Ethereal, and beautiful, and Levi could not decide if he wanted to throw him out the front door or back onto those pillows. Needed Armin a thousand miles away, where Eren would never lay eyes on him.

Needed Armin underneath him at the same time, throat bared and thighs spread and- _Fuck._

"They'll be bringing your luggage up soon, and tomorrow we'll find a maidservant to help unpack your things, unless there's something specific you need from them now. There's running water in that little washroom, in the corner, and some fruit in a bowl on the desk, along with some drinking water. Would you like a meal brought here? Are you hungry? Do you want tea, or coffee, or juice? Some wine?" Armin shook his head, mouth hanging open for a moment before he stuttered over an answer.

"N-No, I'm not hungry. Water's... it's fine. I don't need anything. Thank you, Alpha." Levi sighed, crouching in front of Armin and catching his eyes. Armin gasped audibly at the sight, an Alpha lowering himself before an Omega. Levi just looked at him with furrowed brows.

"You haven't said more than a couple dozen words. You don't have questions? There's nothing you need? I know you're an Untouched by choice, but I have to ask. Is this what you really want? To be an Alpha's consort? Because if you don't want this, then no one will force you to do anything. You don't even have to return to the consort house. We can find you some other room in the palace, and-"

"NO!" It was incredibly loud, spoken in that voice Levi had only heard in whispers so far, Armin going panicked in an instant. He seemed to realize what he'd done, shouted at an Alpha he barely knew, a servant of the crown prince no less. He bowed his head, cheeks going pink. "No, I- I've waited all my life for this. To be wanted. To be needed. I..." Armin's eyes darted up to meet Levi's, holding them instead of falling away, and he was captivated. Lost in them, made a slave in that moment as he'd been once before. The eyes were blue this time instead of green, though. The sky instead of the ocean, and he hung on every word from Armin's mouth. His sounded reverent, as though he was speaking the words of a prayer. "Do you know what it means to be Untouched, Alpha?" Levi's voice was made of stones, heavy and rough in his throat.

"My name is Levi." Armin took a deep breath, that pure scent of his swelling up in Levi's nose, clean and bright and so sweet it made Levi's heart stutter.

"Do you know what it means to be Untouched... Levi?" He closed his eyes at the sound of his name, shaking his head as he pried them back open. Levi thought he knew, but if Armin would keep talking.... He didn't know anything at all. What color was the sky? Where did the sun rise? _Please, tell me everything._ This creature that Levi envied, and wanted, and feared, looking at him with an unfathomable expression, hair falling down over his face. "It does not just mean unmated, or untouched by an Alpha's hand. I cannot even remember the last time someone held me. I've gone my whole life alone, surrounded by others yet isolated. Waiting for the day an Alpha would choose me. I'm... I'm nervous. In a new place, with people I do not know. But _please,_ Levi." Armin reached out and closed a hand around Levi's wrist. Begging with his eyes, his scent. "Don't take me from here. If you do, all those years were wasted. I can do my duty, as I am meant to. I have not met the prince, nor do I presume I am worthy for the task I've been chosen for, but at least let me try to please him. Please."

He was begging for the chance to be Eren's mate, and Levi could not blame him, nor could he get words out through his clenched teeth. Nodded instead, more times than were necessary, and started to stand up when he felt Armin's hand stilling him. Levi met his eyes again, and they were full of questions.

"Ask. Whatever it is, just ask." Armin hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Your prince. Eren. Is he... is he kind? Should I... should I be worried? Is that why you ask if I want this?" Levi smiled, reaching up to finally brush those stray golden locks out of Armin's eyes. They were like silk on his fingers, and he never wanted to take his hand away.

"Eren is very kind. You have nothing to fear from him. He would never hurt someone like you." Armin's mouth curled into a shy smile, and it wasn't _fair._ Nothing was fair about any of this, and Levi wanted to scream.

"I hope he likes me. Everyone knows he has not taken any Omegas, and I worry that I won't be.... satisfactory. I want to please him."

Armin was perfect in every way, but it would not be easy for Eren to do what was required of him this evening. To take Armin into bed, to kiss him, to touch him. Eren would feel like he was betraying Levi, just as Levi felt like he was betraying Eren today with nothing more than thoughts of touching Armin. To actually do it, to put his hands on someone else, to bring their mouths together, to spread Armin's thighs apart....

Levi was not sure Eren was capable of it. Did not want him to be, really. Yet they had no choice, and Levi tugged down his collar, exposing his glands. It was with a heavy heart that he knelt between Armin's feet and took his face in his hands. Armin froze, uncertain but not quite afraid, watching Levi warily. Levi's resolve slid into place, steely and unwavering.

"I'm going to scent mark you, Armin." Armin's eyes went wide, and he pulled back, stammering.

"B-But, the prince, h-he, h-he.. I'm Untouched, he'll _smell you,_ he'll be a-angry, h-he-" Levi moved with him, not letting Armin's face fall from his hands.

"Shhhhhh. He won't be angry. This will please him, you have my word. I know you do not know me that well, but trust me on this. Can you do that? Can you trust me?" 

_No,_ Levi thought, scenting Armin's panic rising in the air. _He can't._ Armin nodded in spite of his fear, unwilling to disobey the Alpha that served his own, though Levi knew he was reeling inside. But this moment of transitory discomfort would be worth it. If it made things easier to Eren....

Anything would be worth it.

Levi leaned in close, using his thumbs to lift Armin's chin high, head cocked to the side to expose his scent gland. Armin shuddered under his touch, and his breathing began to come faster, eyes wrenched closed. This was an incredibly intimate act, usually performed during a mating, or directly afterward. Levi was sure Armin had not expected his first scent marking to happen like this. Some Alphas did not even mark their Omegas, especially if they had more than one. It was done out of possession, out of affection.

Out of love, and though Levi did not love this Omega, he loved his prince enough for both of them.

He brought their throats together, Armin's skin drowned in Levi's scent, the Armin's lingering on his own. Levi began to growl, something savage rising up inside, calling out to him. _Go get Eren. Bring him here. Mark him, too. Press this Omega between you both, sink your teeth in their throats, kiss them and take them and-_ Levi growled even louder, trying to bury his instincts under the noise. Levi tilted Armin's head in the opposite direction, covering his other gland in scent, fighting the urge to tear open his robes. There were other scent glands, between those pale thighs, and the ancient part of Levi was not satisfied leaving them untouched. Armin was whimpering now, fingers buried in Levi's hair, clutching him close. Knees falling wide, hips rutting forward just slightly, his whole body singing with want. _Fuck,_ this was _dangerous,_ and when Levi felt Armin's cock nudging into him, hard even through all that cloth, he threw himself backwards and staggered to his feet.

Armin looked up at him with hazy eyes and pink cheeks, throat shining with Levi's scent, mouth open as he panted. Armin's legs were still spread open, a hand buried in his robes, trying to conceal his arousal. Levi's own breathing was ragged and fast, the mark on his neck hotter than it should be, as though it were trying to burn its way out of his flesh. He blinked a few times, fixing his collar, combing through his hair with shaky hands. Levi gasped out his words, sounding forlorn and desperate.

"E-Eren will be done with his duties soon, and he'll take his meal and bathe before joining you. If there is anything you need, I will be nearby. Just... call for me."

Leaving Armin's room felt like retreat, like surrender.

Levi had never been so eager to be defeated, and he fled as though there was a demon sitting on that bed instead of an Omega.

One with soft hands and bright eyes, Levi's scent swimming in his veins.


	3. Crown Prince

It was the finest wine the capital had to offer, imported from thousands of miles away and brought in through the underground to prevent thieves from pilfering it. Too valuable to risk, and many people would give their firstborn just to have a bottle.

The liquid tasted bitter in Eren's mouth, making his nose wrinkle in disgust, but it had nothing to do with quality and everything to do with the prince himself. He finished the wine anyway, unwilling to waste something so precious, but as he moved to set it down he found the glass snatched away. Mikasa was there, twirling the wineglass in her fingers dexterously, making the delicate flute spin over her knuckles. When she finished her flourish Mikasa replaced it on the table, but further away from Eren, out of his reach. He scowled at her, despite the fact that he had not intended to actually drink anymore. Mikasa smiled briefly, collapsing into the chair opposite him, arranging her swords so she could sit comfortably. Her hands lingered on the hilts, tracing the intricate designs absently, now looking at her brother with something like pity.

"It would be incredibly disrespectful to him if you show up late, not to mention drunk. You've already eaten and showered. There's no point in putting this off further." Eren sighed, putting his face in his hands and leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

"He's waited in some miserable consort house for seventeen years, he can wait a few more minutes."

"I wasn't talking about him." Eren cut his eyes up at Mikasa, who was watching him with a serious expression now. "You've been acting as though you're the only one who is unhappy with this, but surely you can't be so oblivious to Levi's feelings. He's been fucking miserable for weeks, having servants drag in all sorts of bullshit to furnish the consort quarters, arranging it himself. He made the bed you're going to claim your new mate on, Eren. I know I don't always see eye to eye with him, but you're being a selfish little bastard about this whole situation. He's not at fault any more than you are. You both should have been more careful. I can't believe you marked each other." Eren glared, sitting back in his seat and gesturing wildly with his hands. His voice was cutting and sarcastic, but Mikasa did not flinch beneath the words.

"Oh, I'm sorry, _princess._ I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to make mistakes! Please forgive me for having feelings. It won't happen again." His sister just looked at him like he was an idiot, rolling her eyes as she filled his wineglass and drank it herself.

"I don't see why you can't just go to father and tell him what happened. Those marks don't just form absent affection or possession. And between two Alphas? Everyone thinks it's a myth, that it's impossible. Something from old storybooks. Those bond marks prove there's something real between you, something more than lust or casual feelings. Father would understand. Mother, too. They wouldn't judge you. I wouldn't really look forward to suddenly being the heir, expected to mother a child because neither of you are capable of it. Nor would I enjoy giving over my Jaegers to you, which is certainly what Mother and Father would want. I'd do it, though. For you. Seeing you like this is painful, Eren. Just go to our parents and tell them about Levi, and we can put that Omega to work with Hange in the apothecary lab." Eren rubbed at the mark on his throat without realizing it, fingers dancing affectionately across the red swirls under his collar, incomplete though they were.

"It's unfinished. Half there. Not a true mark." 

Imperfect. Their marks were imperfect, the crimson filigree fading out to nothing on one side instead of forming a complete circular design as they should have. Levi thought it was because they were both Alphas, and their pheromones clashed. Marking, but not able to totally form, their very natures fighting one another. The mate bond was still there between them, though, an awareness of the other's presence no matter where they were, hints of their emotions. Heightened sensitivity to each others scents. Along with an innate ability to sense when their mate was in danger. Eren had been caught with his collar folded down the day after they'd marked each other by what he'd thought was one of his father's guards, though it had turned out to be a maidservant who couldn't even manage to raise her eyes in the presence of the crown prince. Fear had arced through him anyway, sharp and vicious, sure that his secret was out.

Levi had shown up moments later breathing hard, swords in hand and eyes burning with terror. 

_You were afraid. I felt it._

Levi sensed Eren's panic across the palace, and came running to his side, thinking the prince was in danger. He'd heard of mates being able to do that, tell when their Omega was under threat, though he knew of none personally that had the ability. It was supposed to signal the strength of the bond between them, fierce and unbreakable.

So why were their marks incomplete? Eren pored through the old books in the palace library, yellowed pages falling to pieces beneath his fingers, but none of them told him anything of incomplete bonding marks. The only person who might be able to help would be Hange, but Eren dared not ask her. The idea of letting another person know their secret made him feel dizzy with nerves, and no matter how much he trusted their resident physician and apothecary, he could not make himself seek her help. It was bad enough that Mikasa had found them out, though that was mostly Eren's fault. Levi could keep himself astonishingly composed no matter the situation, but Eren had a hard time controlling himself. He stared at Levi more than he should, letting his eyes wander, biting his lip. Eren's hands were too familiar on Levi's shoulders, trailing down to the small of his back. Lingering a moment too long. Clutching a bit too tight. 

Mikasa, who had spent her entire life around Eren, had seen through him in an instant even before they'd unwittingly marked each other. Now she claimed she could _smell_ the difference, their scents mingling together ever so slightly, and Eren hoped with all that he was that it was only her familiarity with them that made it possible. So far it did not appear that anyone else was aware, but if Mikasa's nose caught the change, other Alphas might too. Especially those in the palace who spent a good deal of time with the pair. Commander Smith eyed them curiously from time to time now, that keen gaze of his missing nothing, and Eren wouldn't be surprised if he knew everything there was to know. Not just about Eren and Levi, but the entire world, all the mysteries of the universe hidden behind that serious stare.

"Eren? Are you even listening?" He pulled his gaze up, her gray eyes boring into him angrily. Mikasa hated being ignored, but Eren had to shake his head, because he hadn't heard a word.

"What?" She sighed, making a sound of irritation through her teeth, and Eren wanted to laugh at how familiar it was.

"I said it doesn't matter. A mark is a mark. Father would respect it."

Eren buried his face in his hands, tugging russet strands between his fingers. He'd been ready to go to Grisha the day after they'd marked one another and tell him everything. That he and Levi were together, and for quite some time. That there was nothing in this world more important to Eren than Levi. That Levi was more important than inheriting the kingdom, or fathering children, or living up to the expectations of all the nobles that were waiting for him to fail. Levi had stopped him, horrified at the mere thought, unwilling to bend. Eren could still see the desperation in Levi's eyes as he clung to Eren's sleeve. Pleading. Terrified.

 _'I've caused you enough trouble just being your First Blade, Eren. Half the nobles hate you solely because I am in your service instead of one of their sons. If you do this, the rest of your life will be an uphill battle, fighting tooth and nail for everything, all because of me. A prince mated to not only a man, but an_ Alpha _, and a commoner at that. Not to mention how many of the nearby kingdoms are on the brink of war, and you want to lay this at your father's feet as he prepares for a possible war on two fronts? We_ can't _. I won't allow you to.'_

Eren wanted to argue with him. He did not like idea of allowing anything to dictate his life, especially not a bunch of useless nobles or the leaders of foreign nations who did nothing but cause his father trouble. Levi was so adamant, though, the prince couldn't find it in himself to offer up more than a few half hearted protests. When Levi discussed Eren taking an Omega to allay any suspicions, Eren had bristled viciously enough to surprise him. 

Levi was willing to let Eren be with another man, to mate an Omega, just to keep what they had together a secret. Anger did not begin to describe the depth of fury Eren felt, though there were other, darker emotions present as well. Eren hurt, more than he thought possible, in places he'd never felt pain before. Beneath his chest, not precisely his heart but somewhere deeper. Down inside his bones, flowing through his blood. What he felt for Levi was visceral and overwhelming, so strong he could taste it in his mouth when he looked at him. Could feel it in his fingertips. Could smell it in the air between them, scents coming together to create something _more._ Something _better._

That Levi could seemingly cast those emotions aside so easily made Eren ache. 

When he'd agreed to go along with Levi's plan, all he could taste was metal and ash, the words rusted on his lips. _Do what you think is best, Levi._ And Levi had done what was best, not for them, but for the kingdom. For the security of Eren's people, and their family's stability in an increasingly dangerous time.

Eren wanted to hate him for it. Couldn't. When he thought of Levi right then, there was nothing but longing, all his love tucked away somewhere inside where it could not hurt them. Where no one would _see._ Mikasa was still waiting for an answer, staring at him with a look that begged him to reconsider what he was about to do. _By the sisters,_ he loved her in that moment. Mikasa was willing to throw away her beloved Jaegers for him. Willing to take an Omega, mother a child with them, and take his place as heir. Willing to throw her entire life down a different path, to take a wife, just so he could be with Levi. Eren stood up, running his fingers through Mikasa's hair slowly and shaking his head. Then he turned to go, forcing his back straighter, his chin higher, his eyes up. Thinking about just how lucky he was, really, to be surrounded by so much affection.

Mikasa loved him. His parents. The generals he'd known since childhood. Levi. _Gods,_ Levi loved him with all that he was. Eren knew it was true.

But love was not enough, and Eren felt heavier than the stones he walked on as he made his way towards their room.

.......................................................

He found Levi sprawled out on their bed on top of the blankets, one foot on the mattress, the other dangling just above the floor. Levi was sifting long fingers through his hair, staring at the ceiling, looking lost and uncharacteristically still. There was always a tenacity in Levi's stillness, a sense of _readiness._ The underlying feeling that he was waiting for an order, and would spring to life in an instant to carry it out. This was different. Levi seemed rooted into those soft furs, as though he never intended to climb out of them, and before he realized it Eren crawled over him and straddled his hips. His anger was forgotten in the face of Levi's uncertainty, and Eren reached down to pull him up into his arms. Levi came without hesitation, his own arms around the prince, and Eren felt him melt against him boneless and exhausted. He had not really considered how emotionally draining it must have been for Levi to go to the consort house and choose an Omega to crawl into Eren's bed in his place. 

Eren had only been thinking of himself, and was suddenly ashamed. However hard this was on him, it was harder on Levi, who was unable to rest easy in the looming walls of the castle without Eren by his side. Soon there would be an Omega there, too, filling up a space next to the prince that had always been empty. When they ate meals with the rest of the household, or attended gatherings of nobles, there would be three instead of two. Levi, and Eren...

And an Omega, an arm looped around the prince's, and it made Eren feel lonely somehow. Someone intruding on what had always been theirs, and Eren had been so dead set on blaming Levi for everything that he'd been blind to the depth of his suffering. 

None of it was Levi's fault. Not really, and he shuddered against Eren, face buried in his chest, hands clutching at the back of his shirt. His words were muted by the fabric, but Eren could feel the heat of them, even through his clothes.

"You're not angry at me anymore?" Eren shrugged, one hand slipping up Levi's back and into his hair, sifting through the mussed strands.

"A little, I suppose. More worried right now than anything. Are you okay?" He expected Levi to assuage his doubts, to say he was fine, to brush off the concern. But then Levi shook his head fiercely, nuzzling deeper into Eren's embrace, and it was only then that the prince caught his scent. The Omega's very essence filled the room, and the smell had been distracting enough from the moment Eren set foot inside, but now he realized it was not just in the air. It was mingled with Levi's own, and something rankled inside him at the thought. _Levi,_ with his hands on an Omega. _Levi,_ with an Omega's scent on him. He shoved down his sudden jealousy, realizing just how foolish it was in light of what was about to happen. Especially with Levi trembling in his arms, saying without words that _no._

He was not okay. But Eren did not know what to say to make things any easier for either one of them.

"Is there anything I can do?" Eren wasn't really anticipating a response, but Levi let out a ragged sound before speaking. Levi's voice was a whisper, and so desperate it made Eren feel breathless.

" _Don't love him._ " The floor fell out from beneath him, and Eren was spinning in a void for a moment, dizzy and unhinged. 

_Don't love him._

Eren's arms went painfully tight around him, so quickly that he heard the air come out of the Alpha in a rush as he bent down to shove his face into Levi's neck. Pressed a kiss against the red filigree there, his own heating up in answer, and he whispered against the pale flesh of Levi's throat.

"Never." Levi sucked in a quivering breath, and if Eren smelled the salt of tears, he would never say anything about it.

"Promise." The words fell out smelling like truth, and love, and even the Omega in the next room that had a scent like sea and sunrise could not compare.

"I promise, Levi. Only you." Levi nodded again, the motion quick and furtive against Eren's face, and Levi seemed to come back to himself a bit. Pawed at his eyes while Eren pretended not to notice before pulling back, and the prince climbed off of Levi and sat down beside him on the bed. The silence was awkward, and Eren didn't want to make things worse, but he had to ask. Threw a glance at the door to the consort's quarters before tugging his eyes back to Levi. "So. What's he like? Anything I should know?" Levi sighed heavily, rubbing at his cheeks as he, too, looked briefly towards the doorway that led to the Omega's room.

"He's... I don't know, Eren. He seems _fragile._ Not that I want to talk about this, but you... you're incredibly rough most of the time. You'll hurt him if you're not careful. He's no Alpha." Eren cocked his head to the side, looking at Levi with a strange expression.

"You sound worried." That wasn't entirely true. He sounded _protective,_ and Eren couldn't manage to wrap his head around it. Why would Levi feel that way about an Omega he'd only just met? One who Eren was going to _mate?_

"I just... he's terrified." Eren furrowed his brows, considering the Omega as a person for the first time, instead of some abstract idea.

"He doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to. You told him that, right? I won't force an unwilling Omega, even one raised to be a consort." Levi shook his head, a resigned frown crossing his features.

"He's not terrified of _that._ Just this place. He's been living in the same little consort house his entire life, now he's suddenly thrown into the palace, surrounded by people he doesn't know. Half of them royalty. It would be a lot for anyone to take in." Levi looked around the room, eyes anywhere but on the prince, before finally letting them settle on Eren's. "Do you know what being an Untouched entails?" Eren shrugged again, standing up and taking off his coat, laying it across the bed. His jacket followed suit, gloves landing on a desk nearby, and he sat down in the chair beside it to begin working off his high boots.

"That he's a virgin. Hasn't been marked by an Alpha. Never worked in the brothels. Right?" Levi remained silent, and as Eren pulled one boot free, he glanced up to find Levi shaking his head.

"It literally means 'untouched'. He's not been hugged since he was a child. Not even casually. No hand holding, no brushes on his arm, no pats on the head. The contact he had with me today was probably more than he's had in his entire life." Levi let out a harsh laugh, and something dark shadowing his eyes. "He's starved for it. You know how touchy Omegas usually are, even if you haven't been around many of them. His whole life deprived of physical contact? For over a decade? It sounds like the worst kind of torture for an Omega. He'd never even seen an Alpha up close before today." 

Eren was silent for awhile, trying to wrap his head around what Levi had told him. He thought of the Omegas he saw at court with unmarried nobles, his memories bringing up images of luxuriously dressed consorts sitting near their Alphas. Leaning into one another, arms pressed together, or holding hands. Now Eren realized he couldn't even recall seeing an Omega by themselves, let alone one that was not in constant proximity to another person. They were _always_ touching each other, or their Alpha. The idea of an Omega being isolated from such a basic part of their identity, their need for touch, made Eren's heart do strange, unfamiliar things in his chest.

"That's... incredibly sad." Levi made a noise of agreement, taking Eren's boots and setting them in the wardrobe and hanging his coat by the door. The jacket he put in a wooden crate in the corner, along with the prince's socks and gloves. Cleaning up after Eren was automatic, something he did without thought or effort. Eren's eyes lit up gold while he watched Levi move through the room, possession rolling through him as they threw shadows in the dimness. Levi was _his,_ and Eren spoke before he could stop himself. "You smell like him. Like the Omega." Levi's head snapped towards him, chin raised, eyes flashing in kind as they met Eren's in a challenge.

"You will too, soon enough. And it won't be something so easily washed away." Eren blinked his eyes back to green, teeth gritted as he struggled with his instincts. He growled at himself, shaking his head and muttering out an apology.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The prince was in just his pants and a collared undershirt now, feet bare on the cold stone, and he glanced up at Levi with an look of embarrassment. The consort quarters loomed threateningly before him, and Eren found himself shifting in place. He'd never touched anyone besides Levi. Never kissed anyone but Levi. Never wanted to, and the idea of doing so now had him cringing hard. He knew that sound did not carry into the Omega's room, they had made sure of that before they furnished it, but he still spoke quietly. Did not want to break the quiet. To make things real. "It's not as though I have to mate him tonight, right? Surely he would rather wait-" Levi cut him off with a harsh shake of his head, pointing a finger towards the door the Omega sat behind.

"That Omega has spent the last fifteen years without anyone laying a hand on him, being groomed to be some noble's consort. Consensually. This isn't something that was done to him against his will. You know how serious the traditions of the Untouched are. If you go in that room and tell him you're not claiming him as your mate tonight? He'll think he's a failure. That he is unwanted, or unworthy. You will break him, and you won't ever be able to make it right completely. He will always remember that he was the first Untouched in the history of the kingdom to go unclaimed on his mating night. The crown prince, paying chests full of gold for an Untouched, then taking one look at him and saying, 'Oh, not tonight.' You cannot do that to him, Eren." 

Eren opened his mouth to argue, only to find Levi there with a finger across his lips. Levi knelt in front of him, eyes still wet and red, biting his lip. He put his hands on Eren's knees, crouching between Eren's own, and he looked so serious the prince held his breath in anticipation.

"I know you don't want this. I don't want you to either, but when you go through that door, I need you to leave us here." Eren's mouth fell open again, words of protest on his tongue, but they were silenced when Levi pointed towards the consort quarters again briefly, eyebrows raised. "The Omega? His name is Armin. He's a person, and none of this is his fault, and he wants nothing more than to please the Alpha he's been chosen for. The _crown prince,_ the most intimidating Alpha he could possibly have had for a mate. He's so afraid he'll displease you, I thought he was going to be sick earlier. Now he's waiting for you, and it is not fair to him to carry all this guilt in there. I don't..." Levi's eyes fell to the ground, shoulder sagging, but he soldiered on. "I don't want you to fall in love with him. I don't want to share that part of you, and that terrifies me. But he's innocent in this, and he's small and beautiful and afraid and I want to us keep him safe. I want to protect him." Those steely eyes met Eren's again, and his voice was made of that same metal when he continued. "Even if it's mostly from ourselves. Don't take any of this out on him. Be... be easy with him. Be gentle. Don't let him feel unwanted." Levi looked haunted suddenly, and Eren knew all the dark memories that were swimming in the Levi's mind just by the shadows they cast in his eyes. 

Levi knew more than anyone what it felt like to be cast aside by those who were supposed to cherish him. Yet he was more worried for the Omega than himself in that moment, and that spoke volumes about how secure Levi felt in Eren's love for him. Eren's hand came up on its own to cup Levi's cheek, thumb easing across his bottom lip, and he leaned into it hard. _'I want us to keep him safe.'_ He smiled a sad smile, and Levi returned it, something stretching taut between them.

"Okay." 

Their lips came together, soft and slow and warm, and they lingered against each other for as long as they dared. It felt like home, Levi's mouth on his own, and Eren would carry that belonging with him everywhere he went. Even into bed with someone else, and after pressing their foreheads close for a moment, Levi stood up and headed to the door. Lost in the place he slept each night, hand clutching the doorframe viciously as he looked back towards Eren.

"I can't... I can't stay here for this." Eren stood as well, nerves crawling up into his guts, birds taking flight behind his ribs.

"I know. I wouldn't ask that of you." _I don't want you here. Not right now._ Eren couldn't say it, and that was okay. He didn't need to. Levi seemed panicked suddenly, jaw shuddering for the barest of moments before he shook himself. Stood up straight, squared his shoulders, right hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Where... Where will you sleep?" Eren smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes, and there was broken glass in his lungs. He didn't realize he was stroking his mating mark until Levi did the same, crimson swirls warming at the touch.

"With you. Like always."

Levi nodded yet again and left without another word, hand still playing at the red on his throat. Eren made his way over to the door of the consort quarters, hand on the knob, and he took deep breaths. 

_'When you go through that door, I need you to leave us here.'_

But Eren couldn't do it. Couldn't lay Levi aside, not even for this. He needed Levi's strength, and though he was not present, Eren could feel him inside. Making him _more._ Making him _better._ So he took Levi with him into that room. A smile on his face and a knife in his chest, with hands that were not shaking.

Not yet.


	4. To Touch

No amount of water splashed on his face would cool the nerves rolling through Armin, and after pacing the room a few dozen times, too terrified to touch anything, he collapsed onto the bed with a sigh. _Lavish_ did not begin to describe the room he'd been given, and it made him nauseated in some vague way to be surrounded by such luxury. The consort house had been furnished well, everything relatively new and exceptionally clean, but the bed he rested on felt like a cloud drawn down from the heavens and the fabric of the curtains and pillows put his clothes to shame. Finer than anything he'd ever touched, the uppermost blankets so thick Armin wondered if it was even possible for a creature to have such fur. Did they breed them specifically to make bedding? Farms full of animals, living and dying just to fill up royal chambers with their soft pelts. 

The tea set on the desk was made of a blush pink porcelain, and Armin did not understand how anyone could drink out it. Golden filigree etched over the sides, curling and intricate, flowers painted into the smooth surface... He couldn't bear to put his lips to it. It would be like defiling a work of art with his mouth, and he didn't know how he would ever actually live here. Walking on eggshells the rest of his life, afraid to sully the things he was supposed to call his own. He'd tucked his book away in a drawer of the bedside table, part of him worried he'd be scolded for having it, despite how little the prince's First Blade had seemed to care. _Levi._ Levi did not appear bothered by Armin bringing a book with him, though he'd been chastised his entire life for wanting to spend all his time reading. Eventually they'd taken what few books he had away, worried no Alpha would want an Untouched who always had his nose buried in dusty volumes of fantasy or history. Armin had been allowed to keep one, only because it was given to him by the previous house matron, who he'd loved dearly. She'd passed away when he was barely out of childhood, and his chest still hurt at the thought of her. A keepsake more than a book, really, lots of pictures and very few words. A children's book of the world, full of forests and snowscapes and oceans. Still, Armin often ran his fingers over the images of the sea, blue waters now dulled by age, pages falling apart. The smooth expanse of the tundras was no longer white, yellowing more with every year. Edges frayed, paper tearing bit by bit, little pieces of trees giving way to holes. Broken by Armin's love for it, and each time he opened it up, it was devastated further.

He fought the urge to pull it out in that moment, draw strength from the familiar feel of it in his hand. Its weight, its smell. The worn leather cover, and Armin's hands could find each jagged imperfection even with his eyes closed. Armin had not been waiting terribly long, really, but the moments stretched out like hours before him, infinite and unending. Levi's scent lingered on him, and Armin had considered washing it away, but could not bring himself to act on the urge. Defy an Alpha on his first day here? Even if it was not his intended mate, he balked at the very idea.

But that fierce oil in his skin was doing strange things to Armin, and he shifted in place as it pervaded his senses. He wanted to whine, needy sounds rising in his throat, and he shoved them down viciously. The Omega in him had gotten the barest taste of an Alpha, and now it was _begging_. To be touched. To be tasted. Held, and kissed, and claimed.

_Mated._

His thighs spread of their own accord, fingers easing down into his clothes, and when Armin realized what he was about to do he jerked his hands back and tucked them underneath his legs. He did not want to be found by his new Alpha that way, fingers buried in himself, arousal in hand. Armin would die of embarrassment before his mate even touched him. The raw lust that threatened to overtake him reminded Armin of his last heat, though it was not nearly as staggering as a true cycle would have been. He wasn't due for another heat yet, not for another couple of weeks at least. Yet there he was, glands warming in his throat, in his thighs, and Armin was horrified as the telltale scent of slick reached his nose. _His_ slick. Sweet, and strong, and totally undeniable, Armin had never produced it outside of a heat before. Levi's scent marking had Armin all twisted up inside, and the prince had not even arrived yet. Would he be angry? Disgusted?

Lost in his thoughts, and the heat that surged through him in waves, Armin startled at the sound of the door opening. There was only one person it could be, considering the unfamiliar Alphan scent, and Armin was on his knees in an instant. Eyes down, throat bared, a greeting on his tongue that he did not even need to consider. The words were there, ingrained into him over years of training, as familiar as his own name.

Words he did not get to speak, because there was a hand at his elbow, tugging him up to his feet. Another Alpha's scent, just as powerful as Levi's, but more welcoming, somehow. Probably because he was allowed to breathe it in, Armin's mind latching onto this one with everything in him.

The scent of his mate. His voice, urging but easy, soft in the dimness around them.

"No, please, don't do that. Stand up." 

Armin closed his eyes, taking in a lungful of air that was nothing but _Alpha_ and stumbling back upright. By the Sisters, he couldn't _breathe,_ it was too much, too soon, too strong. But he'd waited so long, and Armin shuddered at the thought that his waiting was over now. When his lids finally opened he kept his gaze on the ground, taking in the prince's clothes. Feet bare, dark pants, the bottom of a green undershirt. After long moments he realized the Alpha wasn't saying anything. Was staring at him, breathing in deep. _Scenting_ him, and he bit his lip to keep back a whimper.

"Can I see your face, Ome- Armin?" Armin shivered at the sound of his name, lifting his face but not his eyes. It had been driven home time and time again in the consort house, by the matrons and consorts both. Until an Omega knew what their Alpha was like, it was unwise to meet their gaze. Challenging them, even without meaning to, could have dire consequences. 

Consequences one wore in their flesh in shades of blue and black. That tasted like copper, and made muscles ache with every movement. Then a warm hand cupped his jaw, thumb sliding over Armin's cheek, and the Alpha's voice was a soft breath on his face. 

"Look at me. Please?"

Armin shoved into the touch as he let his eyes flit up, desperate for the warmth of someone else's skin on his own, and he was lost in the Alpha's stare, jewel bright and beautiful. His skin was darker than Armin had been expecting, coppery and tanned and smooth. Russet brown hair. Messy, long enough that he'd tucked it behind his ears, bangs still falling down into his face. His bottom lip was a bit wide compared to the top, mouth wet and red and Armin suddenly wanted it buried against his own. Then those lips split into a wide smile, teeth white behind them, and the Alpha's thumb eased down to trail across Armin's jaw.

"See, that wasn't so bad, eh? I'm Eren, Crown Prince of House Jaeger." One side of that grin cocked up higher, leaving it crooked and wry. "But I'm guessing you knew that already."

Armin nodded wordlessly, feeling foolish in his muteness, but unable to speak. Gods above, this Alpha was _beautiful,_ and in a different way from Levi, though they were both breathtaking. Eren was... softer. Inviting where Levi was intimidating, open when the other was closed. Eren was also his intended Alpha, and the Omega within Armin was restless at the thought, that sweet scent tickling at his nose again. His slick, mingling with threads of arousal that Armin himself could not detect, but would not be lost on the man in front of him. What he had desired for so long, so close, and yet out of his reach. Armin could do nothing but wait for this Alpha to decide if he truly wanted him for a mate, and he was suddenly grateful for his body's eagerness. His very nature would seek to seduce Eren all on its own, and all he had to do was be still, and think of those strong hands on him. Slipping under his robes, brushing over his shaft. Fingers splayed over Armin's ribcage, that perfect mouth nipping at his collar bones. 

Eren's nose twitched as he inhaled, and he dropped his hand from Armin's face, guiding him back towards the bed. Armin sat down, glad he would not have to rely on his legs to hold him up anymore even as he wanted to cry out at the loss of Eren's touch. _Put your hands back on me, please._ Armin wanted to beg, and held back the words by the barest of margins. It was too easy to hold this Alpha's gaze, no challenge in those eyes of his, and Armin did not realize he was staring until Eren raised his eyebrows expectantly. _Oh!_

"I-I'm Armin, Untouched of House Arlert. It's a privilege to be chosen for you, Prince Jaeger. I am blessed to be of service." Eren waved his hands through the air dismissively, sitting beside Armin on the furs. Close enough that their thighs touched, and Armin leaned into it unconsciously, drinking in the contact.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Armin. And please, just Eren. I don't want you to... do all of that, for me. The kneeling and submitting and titles. I have to listen to it all day, I don't think I could bear it from you. We're to be mated, right? I think we'll be past any such... formalities... very soon." Armin felt a flush paint his cheeks, eyes dropping not out of submission but shyness. Eren reached over to take one of Armin's hands in both of his own, thumb rubbing over the knuckles. He waited until Armin pulled his gaze back up, and held it as he spoke. "Levi told me he already asked, but I need to make sure this is something you want. Truly want." There was a desperation in Eren's face that Armin could not quite understand, and he was unsure of what he was meant to say. Did Eren not want him? Or was he truly worried Armin had been coerced into his current situation? Eren continued, voice lower than before, pleading with Armin with his words as well as his tone. "If you don't want to be my consort, you don't have to. You don't have to be _anyone's_ consort. You can stay here, and no one will think any less of you. You can work in the apothecary lab if you want, or you don't have to work at all. We don't want to force you into anything. You have nothing to fear from me."

Eren was waiting on him to answer, and Armin hesitated, afraid of the words that came next. Armin had been prepared all his life for this moment, both anticipating and fearing the man or woman who would take him as a mate. Would they be cruel? Would they treat him like chattel, as so many Alpha's did? Would he be bought for some harem, mated once and then ignored for the rest of his life? He'd spent countless night lying awake, wondering about a fate he had so little control over. But all his nervousness had been in vain, because the man sitting next to him was more than he could ever have though to ask for. He did not want to talk to this Alpha he'd been given to, not anymore. An Alpha who said, _don't kneel._

_Don't submit._

_Don't call me Prince._

_You've nothing to fear._

Armin was not afraid. Armin was _desperate,_ and he would say whatever he had to in order to get Eren's skin against his. His hands, his mouth. All of him, everywhere, until Armin did not know which parts were his own anymore. Over a decade without touch, and the Omega could not stand another night deprived of it. Another hour, another minute. Each moment was agonizing, and Armin steeled himself, bringing one of Eren's hands up to his face. Pressed his lips against the Alpha's knuckles, holding his stare, and he painted his pleas into the tanned skin under his mouth. Armin would say _anything_ to make this Alpha his own, and the truth fell out absent thought.

"I have waited my whole life, both eager and afraid of you, not knowing who you would be. Untouched, willing to submit to whoever chose me. Then they brought me into a _palace,_ and threw me amongst fineries I could not even imagine, saying 'this is yours'. Now you come to me, gentle and kind and beautiful, and you ask if this is what I want? This is more than I ever thought to want. More than I dared to hope for. If you would have me, I would have you. _Please,_ Alpha." Armin let his robes fall from his shoulders, head dropping to the sides to expose his throat, fighting through his nerves to ask for the thing he wanted most in the world. "Touch me."

Eren let out a shuddering breath, eyes lighting up gold with feeling, and he reached up and took hold of the jeweled stick holding Armin's hair in place. Tugged it out slowly, watching as long honey locks spilled over the Omega's shoulders. Emotions Armin could not name played out over the Alpha's face, settling on something like resignation. Like defeat.

But then he buried one hand in Armin's hair, the other snaking around the Omega's waist to pull him close, and if this was defeat for Eren then Armin was the victor. He would revel in it, because his Alpha was touching him, and nothing else mattered. He waited for lips to crash against his own, mouth opening ever so slightly in readiness, but they did not come. Instead Eren spoke into his cheek, and Armin did not know when his eyes had fallen closed, but he pulled them open at the sound of the Alpha's voice.

"I.. I would mark you first, if that's all right." Armin nodded fiercely, savage triumph surging up from an ancient place inside. He was not sure that it would work, the Alpha marking him on the first night they met, but Armin was euphoric that Eren wanted to try. There had to be some sort of affection between them, a sense of possession on the part of an Alpha, along with an eagerness in their mate. An Omega had to consent in order for an Alpha's mark to take, and Armin had never been so ready. _Marked. Claimed. Chosen._ This Alpha was going to put his mark on Armin for all the world to see. Would wear the Omega's mark in turn, and even if he never truly owned the Alpha, or held his love, everyone who saw Eren's throat would know he was mated. That there was an Omega waiting for him.

That Armin was _worthy._ He laid down on the bed, Eren following suit, fingers still sifting through Armin's hair. The Alpha moved over him slightly, not straddling the blond but laying beside him, gnawing at his lip in uncertainty.

"I have to bite you." Armin laughed at the expression on Eren's face, reaching up to touch the Alpha's lips, smiling. Where was all this bravado coming from? Years of loneliness, surely. An Omega's instinctive desire to be safe, to be protected.

To be wanted. Armin answered the Alpha, and he sounded foreign to his own ears. Confident, none of the nerves he felt coming through.

"I'm aware." Eren _blushed,_ and the Omega wanted to brush the color with his fingers, feel the heat in that tan skin. Couldn't resist, trailing his hand over the Alpha's cheek, feeling as though he'd won in some basic way when Eren's eyes darted briefly away. Not a submission, but a retreat, and the Omega would pursue Eren to the ends of the earth. Or at least to the ends of their bed, soft underneath him, put together perfectly. 

Armin wanted those pillows thrown aside, the blankets twisted and messy. Wanted to be buried in them, part of the devastation. Eren's gaze sought out Armin's again, brows coming together with worry.

"You're sure?"

Armin didn't answer with words. Just tangled his fingers up in Eren's hair, pulling the Alpha in close to his throat. Armin guided Eren's mouth to his scent gland, and when the brunet nuzzled against it affectionately, he wanted to sigh in bliss. Eren inhaled deeply, and something seemed to break inside him, all the tension leaving him in a rush. The Omega's scent had reached down inside Eren and pulled those primal instincts out, and Armin felt like howling in victory.

Then he spoke, and ice filled Armin's veins, all that joy fading away at once.

" _You smell like Levi._ " Armin froze, mouth stuttering over his answer when he should have been silent. _'Words have consequences you can wear for days, little one...'_

"I-I didn't- h-he said it was okay, I don't-" Eren nosed harder into the skin of Armin's throat, breathing in deeper, growling in between the soothing sounds he made.

"Shhhh... shhhh... it's fine." Another desperate breath, and Eren nipped at the Omega's glands, tongue laving across them. Sucking, licking, and there would be bruises over the mark on his skin, neck purple and blue from Eren's hungry kiss. He pulled back to whisper into Armin's flesh, low and rough, voice darker than before. "You smell _divine._ "

The Omega did not have time to think on the Alpha's reply before Eren's teeth sank into him, deep enough that he felt blood trickling from the wound, down his throat, over his chest. Eren growled louder, savage sounds erupting from him as he forced his teeth further into the Omega's flesh. It would have hurt, if not for the power rolling through him, reaching inside the deepest parts of Armin and asking a question in a language that had no words.

_Mine?_

_Yes,_ he thought, but that was not enough. There were strings within the Omega, wrapped tight around his heart, his lungs, his guts, all being pulled at once. Desperate to be tied together, and Armin blindly mouthed his way down Eren's jaw until he reached the pulse point. Licked a stripe across the gland there, tasting for the first time what had previously only been an idea, a scent, a feeling. _Alpha._ Eren's flavor on his tongue, Eren's hands in Armin's hair. His teeth in Armin's throat, and the Omega sucked Eren's flesh into his mouth, biting down hard. Armin tasted blood, and Alpha, then-

 _Yes, yours,_ and those strings latched onto one another. Binding them together, making Armin feel whole in a way he'd never thought possible. Connected with this Alpha, and he knew that Eren was hungry for him, could feel it in with a sense he'd never possessed until that moment. Could feel, as Eren felt. Armin's lungs were full of Eren, neck heating up as the mark formed there, etched in his skin. Blatant, and undeniable. 

And for some reason, Armin thought of Levi. Levi's throat, and how it would taste under his mouth. What his mark would look like there, painted forever in the Alpha's skin. How those grey eyes would shine when they lit up gold. Two Alphas throwing possessive light out across Armin's flesh, two sets of hands rough on his clothes.

The room felt empty for the barest of moments, and then Armin's thoughts fell away as Eren climbed on top of him. Kneed Armin's thighs open to slide between them, and the Omega's legs fell wide to make room like it was the most natural thing in the world. Eren's weight was enough to have the blond shuddering, so much heat, all of it pressed against him. The Alpha released his bite, and Armin had to force his own jaw open, muscles unwilling to give up his prize. Eren eased back to look down at the Omega, positively feral in the soft light of the room. Eyes lighting up his face with gold, and it was primeval and savage. His lips bloody, teeth pink with gore as he smiled Armin, crimson smeared over his chin. More of it dripping down his throat, the mating mark visible within the gashes of Armin's bite. Eren reached down and ran his hand over the Omega's neck, and he fought down a wince as the brunet rubbed a thumb over his throat. Spreading blood and scent in slow circles, smile going wider even as there were traces of something darker within it. Something like regret, but it was gone just as quickly as it came, vanishing behind the gold of Eren's eyes.

"Mine." 

Armin nodded his assent, and his hands were shaking with eagerness when he reached down to untie his robes for the second time that day. No one stopped him this time, and the fabric slipped off too easily, his arms coming out of the sleeves on their own. Naked underneath his Alpha, cloth tangling up around his legs where Eren knelt, and he was not ashamed. He only realized his hands were fisted in Eren's shirt when he pulled on it, voice betraying him. Shaking, and breathy, and telling the Alpha everything he needed to know about just how pathetic with want Armin was in that moment.

"T-take them off. Your clothes." The reality of what he'd done sank in almost immediately. _Oh, fuck._ He'd just given an Alpha a command. Held his gaze and barked out an order, even if it was more of a whine than anything else. Commanded _Prince Jaeger,_ heir to the throne, to take off his clothes. Armin cringed, eyes falling away, hands dropping from Eren's shirt as though he'd been burned. "I'm sorry. I-" Warm fingers were on his jaw again, coaxing Armin's face up until he stared into Alpha-bright eyes.

"Don't apologize to me. To anyone. There is no one inside these walls, or anywhere else, that you are beneath. You want me to take off my clothes?" Armin was shoving into Eren's touch again, unable to stop himself, and he flushed as he stuttered out an answer.

"I-If it pleases you, Alpha." The prince smiled softly at Armin, blood still smeared across his face, and the blond realized he, too, was probably filthy with gore. Did not care. Could not, when his Alpha was looking at him that way. If he was already wretched, that was fine, because his Alpha was _pleased._ Armin would be wretched forever if it meant holding that golden stare.

"Eren." His eyes dropped, only lifting when Eren thumbed over his mouth, speaking to him without a sound. The Alpha looked beautiful, and tragic, and Armin wanted to cleanse that lingering sadness out of his gaze. How could he look so happy, yet so broken? The Omega wanted to fix him, if only he had the right pieces. Armin had nothing but words and flesh, but maybe it would be enough.

"If it pleases you... Eren."

Eren stroked stray blond strands out of Armin's eyes before sitting up, working the buttons on his shirt one by one. The Omega stared unabashedly as carmel skin was revealed an inch at a time, and when Eren slid the garment off his shoulders and let it drop behind him, Armin couldn't bite back a whimper. People talked of the prince in the consort house, and how handsome he was, but what else would they say of the heir to the throne? His station would make him beautiful to their eyes, even if he'd been hideous. Yet they'd not done him justice with their praise, and Armin's hands were on the tan flesh of Eren's abdomen as soon as it was bare. He felt the muscles flex under his palms as Eren worked himself awkwardly out of his pants and undergarments, and then there was nothing between them but too much space, and Armin let out a wretched Omegan cry from the back of his throat. Pulled at Eren's arms, trying to tug him down, and-

"Can you just- for a moment, just-"

Eren laid against the Omega, letting the blond's demanding hands guide him, until they were skin on skin. Pressed together head to toe, and there was no part of Armin that was not warm with his Alpha's heat. His arms wrapped around Eren's back, legs tangled, face buried in the Alpha's throat.

_Touched._

A tear fell from the corner of Armin's eye, and he shuddered, trying to suppress the sobbing sounds that wanted to pour out of him like rain. A flood of emotion, and Armin would suffocate beneath it. Only noticed he was failing to hold back when a deep rumbling noise filled his ears, and everything in him went slack and calm, because _oh._

Eren was _crooning_ to him. He'd never heard the sound before but it was unmistakable, vibrations hitting him everywhere at once. The Omega inside him knew without being told, that this was what is was to be chosen. To be _mated._ Alphas crooned to soothe their mates, to praise them, to comfort them. Some harem Omegas went their entire lives without hearing it.

Now it filled up the whole room, and Eren eased back without putting any distance between them to wipe to tears from Armin's face. His croon cut off briefly as he spoke, hands still pawing at the Omega's cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Armin shook his head, trying to hide in Eren's chest. Get closer to that beautiful sound and let it wash away all those years he spent alone.

He wanted to drown in the noise. Let this Alpha croon to him until the stars fell from the skies and the earth broke apart underneath them. Eren seemed to realize why he was crying, because he lay back down against Armin, nosing into his hair. Ran broad hands up Armin's arms, across his shoulders. Fingers dancing over Armin's collar bones, sliding over his throat. Still crooning, that low growl like music in Armin's ears, and they stayed that way for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a minute or so.

A handful of seconds, and Armin's life would never be the same. His tears dried up, instincts rising again, and he was shoving into the brunet for an entirely different reason. Seeking not just touch, but all of Eren, and the Alpha's dark voice in his ear had Armin's hips rutting forward on their own.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?"

"No!" Too loud, too sudden. Armin cringed at the sound of his voice, but Eren just smiled down at him, finally able to see the Omega's face. Armin shook his head, hands finding Eren's cheeks, thumbs at the corners of his mouth. "No, just... k-kiss me. Please." Those shadows flitted over Eren's eyes again, saying no even as his words contradicted them.

"Okay."

Eren leaned down until their lips were almost touching, the Alpha's breaths warm on Armin's mouth. The Omega wanted to surge forward, to take Eren's kiss, but something in him said _wait._ He watched the Alpha's eyes flash back to green just before they were wrenched shut. Eren's breathing went erratic, and Armin felt those jaws shudder under his palms. Confusion welled up in the Omega, and he wanted to ask why.

_Why can't you kiss me?_

Eren had crooned to him. Armin could smell the lust in him, could taste it in the air. He'd marked Armin without hesitation. Licked and sucked at the Omega's throat, growling as he breathed in Armin's scent. _Wait._ Not just his scent. Levi's scent, too. Eren's words replayed in Armin's mind, fresh and vivid.

_'You smell divine.'_

Did he smell divine?

Or did _Levi?_

A wretched noise came out of Eren, an animal's desperate gasp, and with something like agony on his face the Alpha brought their lips together. Part of Armin wanted to pull away, but then Eren shivered against him, groaning into their kiss. Not a sound of pain, but full of desire, and suddenly those lips on him were hungry. Soft, and wet, and they moved sinfully against Armin's own, and any doubts he had were miles away. Buried under lust, and need, and _Eren, just Eren,_ and Armin could not do anything but submit.

Eren's tongue parted the Omega's lips without hesitation, and Armin opened for him, writhing against the Alpha. Legs wrapping around Eren's hips, and when their arousals brushed together, Armin thrust into the touch. _Gods, please,_ he _needed_ this. Eren growled, teeth sharp on Armin's mouth as he deepened their kiss, one hand sunk deep into the Omega's blond locks. Holding Armin in place, as though he'd try to escape, which was almost funny.

Armin had been waiting his whole life for this moment. There was nowhere he would go except _closer._

There were no thoughts left in his mind when Eren's hand encircled both their shafts, stroking them together. Armin _keened_ , head falling back onto the pillows, and Eren took advantage of the Omega's exposed throat with gusto. He mouthed at the unmarked side of Armin's neck, sucking up bruises as he worked them in unison, the Omega already dangerously close to completion. He'd never been touched, never been held, and now this Alpha was kissing him, and licking his skin, and their cocks were slick in Eren's hand, and Armin thought he might die. Nothing could be better than this.

He'd never seen the frozen tundras in his book. The rivers that twisted down mountains, the oceans that spread out unending towards the horizon. Deserts sprawling forever, mountains that spewed fire. All the wonders of nature, and none of it would hold a candle to the Alpha above him. His touch, and his croon. His hands, his mouth. The scent of Armin's slick was suddenly overpowering, and he could tell when Eren caught the first traces of it because he went rigid in an instant. Muscles straining, breath held in his lungs. He broke away from Armin's throat and pulled back, his hand releasing the Omega's length, and Eren looked at Armin lying on the furs as though seeing him for the first time.

He ran his hands over the pale skin of Armin's chest, down his ribs, past his abdomen. Slid them up the Omega's thighs, parting them as he went until Armin was spread wide under his gaze, and he knew what the Alpha saw there. He was flushed and breathless, cock swollen with need, skin shining with slick where his thighs came together. Marked, throat still trickling blood. Scent so full of raw lust that Armin felt dizzy with it, and those eyes of Eren's lit up gold again.

"You're beautiful, Armin." He whined in answer, legs opening further, biting his lip to stop himself from begging. _Please, Alpha._

" _Eren._ " 

His name spoke with such agonized want... It was enough. The air between them shivered, and Eren was _ravenous._ His mouth was on Armin's, and when two of the Alpha's fingers slipped into his wet entrance, he cried out against Eren's lips. A willing Omega did not need to be prepared as Eren was doing, fingers scissoring inside him, twisting and spreading. His body would open for Eren on its own, his slick surging up with his desire. It felt good, _Gods,_ better than anything Armin had ever felt before, but he needed more than Eren's hands. More than his mouth, more than his touch. They had their whole lives for this, and Armin had been waiting too long already. _Now, take me now, please, now,_ and when Eren crooned again Armin knew he'd been speaking aloud.

"Shhh, okay, okay. I just don't want to hurt you."

"You won't, you won't, please Eren..." He sounded fucking _frantic,_ and Eren crooned louder, laying down against Armin and kneeing his thighs wide again.

"Okay. Tell me if you want me to stop, all right?" 

All Armin could think was _don't stop, never stop._ He nodded instead, and when Eren's crown pressed into him he moaned, mouth falling open on a gasp. The Alpha went slower than Armin would have liked, inching his way inside so carefully, the Omega wanted to weep. So gentle. So worried. So strong, and so beautiful. Powerful in ways that had nothing to do with the crown he would wear, and in that moment Armin knew the truth of it.

He did not deserve Eren. But the Alpha's mark was in his throat, his scent on Armin's skin. His cock splitting him wide, and as he bottomed out inside of Armin, the Omega vowed to himself, _never._

He would never let him go, never give him up. He would be enough for this Alpha all on his own. Would make Eren a slave, only to bask in his presence.

Only to feel his skin.

Eren stopped once he was fully seated inside the Omega, panting, shaking with the effort of holding back. He met Armin's gaze, brushing sweaty gold strands out of his eyes, looking just as overwhelmed as the blond felt.

"Okay?" 

There were not enough words in their language for how okay he was. No poets skilled enough to voice the things Armin felt. Libraries full of books, and everything would be inadequate. He had not read much, but it did not matter. 

Some things could only be felt.

"I-I'm fine. Please."

Eren pressed a kiss to Armin's forehead. His nose, his cheek. Then he took the Omega's mouth again and started to move, and Armin felt the world shift beneath him.

_By the Gods, and the Sisters, and all the stars in the heavens._

They'd told Armin his first time might be unpleasant, or that his Alpha might not be concerned with making him feel good. They'd been wrong. Eren moved inside him almost artfully, shifting and twisting, hips angling just right. He kissed Armin's lips, and when the Omega could not manage to reciprocate anymore, mindless with pleasure, Eren moved down to his throat. Left it bruised and aching and bitten and still Armin wanted more. When the Alpha's mouth closed around one of his nipples, Armin arched up violently, mewling out needy sounds. He slid his feet uselessly around on the furs of the bed, grasping them in his fists only to release them again. Clutched at Eren's hair, groped at his skin. He wanted to touch the Alpha everywhere, wanted to feel every inch of him. Wanted to own him, as he felt owned, and he sank his teeth into the smooth flesh of Eren's shoulder with a groan.

"Fuck..."

Eren growled out profanities and increased his pace, the slide of his cock a revelation inside the Omega. Armin had to release his bite to moan out wanton sounds as the Alpha fucked him into the mattress, pillows falling from the bed, furs tangling up beneath them. All that fine bedding left in chaos, just as the Omega had wanted it to be. The frame creaked loudly under Eren's assault, Armin jerking with his every thrust. The noises he made were pathetic, and he'd be embarrassed if Eren wasn't hissing into his skin, making bestial sounds of his own. Guttural, and low, and Armin felt pride shoot through him. Maybe he was whimpering, and shaking, and lost, but they were lost together, and that was all that mattered.

Heat began to curl through in his guts, spine twisting as his climax loomed. Armin could smell Eren's peak approaching too, pheromones swelling in the air, rolling over them in a wave. Could feel it inside too, down below his chest where all those strings tied them together. Through the bond, mark warming as they neared completion.

"E-Eren..."

The Alpha closed a hand over Armin's arousal and began to stroke, hips pounding brutally into the Omega. Eren worked him violently, fingers of his free hand bruising on Armin's thigh where his arm curled around it, using it for leverage. All Armin could feel was Eren. All he could smell, all he could taste. All he was, nothing but this Alpha, and his orgasm hit him so hard his vision went white with bliss.

"EREN!"

The Alpha's hip stuttered as Armin's come painted his stomach in pearly stripes, both of them jolting and quaking. He felt Eren's teeth in his neck as hot fluid shot into him, his Alpha's seed filling him in bursts. Still Eren kept moving, rutting against him again and again, until Armin felt a strange sensation of fullness. Too full, yet it was perfect, and Armin knew what had happened instantly. _Knotted._ Eren had _knotted_ him.

An Alpha didn't knot a mate they just met. They just _didn't._ It took months, sometimes _years,_ before an Omega would be knotted outside of a heat. There needed to be trust between them, a bond that went further than a simple mating.

Yet they were tied together, and Eren's eyes went wide as he looked down at the Omega in realization.

"I-I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." After a few moments of uncertainty he shifted them, laying them both slowly on their sides, keeping his hips in close so Armin wouldn't be hurt with his movements. Armin just smiled, shocked but pleased, and let out a quiet bark of laughter.

"Don't apologize. It's a good thing, right?" Eren didn't look so sure, and Armin wanted to swallow down his words. But them he smiled back at the Omega, stroking his hair, eyes green as the haze of climax faded.

"Right. I suppose it is."

The Alpha cleaned Armin's stomach and chest with a handkerchief that had been on the night stand, wiping away blood and seed and tossing it absently to the floor. He lay down, arms wrapping the Omega up tight, face so close to Armin's he could feel the Alpha's breathing. Eren's breaths on his face yet again, proof of his closeness, warming the Omega inside. Eren had that look again, happy but conflicted, his euphoria tainted by something dark. Still he looked fondly at Armin, one hand coming up to touch the Omega's mate mark.

"You were magnificent. Are magnificent. Perfect." Armin did not know what to say to that. Felt himself blush, averted his gaze. "Do you want to bathe, after... after the knot releases?" Armin shook his head, shoving his nose into his arm and breathing in deep.

"I don't want to wash your scent off." 

Maybe later he'd be embarrassed by his raw honesty. In that moment, Armin had no regrets. The idea of washing away his Alpha's scent was almost horrific. He'd spent his entire life without anyone's scent on him, and he wanted to wear his Alpha's around as long as he could. They lay together in silence, Eren combing long fingers through Armin's hair, the Omega nuzzled into his chest. Time stretched on infinitely, and when the knot released with a shuddering sensation and a rush of wetness, Armin was not sure how long it had been. A minute, an hour. He blushed again as the Alpha wiped at the mess, cleaning slick and seed away from Armin's skin and removing the sullied fur from underneath him. Eren tucked clean blankets around him, giving him cold water to drink. Asking if he hurt. asking if he needed help to the bathroom. But Armin was euphoric, and he did not want to go anywhere. Didn't want the Alpha to go anywhere either, and only then realized Eren was standing beside the bed wearing his underwear, as if poised to leave. As though he were running from an enemy, feet eager to carry him away.

"If there's anything you need, just call for me. I'll be right outside in my chambers." Terror ran through Armin, sharp as a knife, and he surged forward to cling to Eren's arm. He knew many Alphas did not sleep with their Omegas, even their chosen mates. He _knew,_ but still felt horrified at the idea of the Alpha leaving him there.

"S-Stay with me. Until..." Armin felt pathetic, but he would feel worse by himself in that room. Surrounded by Eren's scent, yet the Alpha nowhere to be seen. He was sore, and aching, and blissfully happy. He did not want to be alone. "Until I fall asleep. Please." The Alpha smiled at him, and it was sad, and broken, and Armin wanted to know why. Didn't want to ask. 

Didn't know how.

"Okay. I'll stay."

Eren climbed back into bed, on top of the furs that Armin lay under, and let the Omega curl into his chest.

Armin fought his sleep for as long as he could, blinking them open every time his eyes started to close, thinking _just a little longer._

_Don't leave me alone._


	5. To Cut

Levi left their room as though he was being chased, eyes stinging and threatening to betray him, only to find himself face to face with Mikasa.  The princess leaned against the wall across the hallway, arms crossed, looking at Levi with a bored expression that failed to hide the underlying sympathy.  Levi wanted to lash out at her, but it was not her fault.  He should consider himself lucky that anyone besides Eren gave a shit about him, not angry in the face of her concern.  Mikasa had been nothing but kind to him since he came to the palace, even if they did snipe at each other constantly.  One of the first of their family to warm to Levi after Eren and the king’s own First Blade.  She had not batted an eye when she’d figured out they were together, and they’d found an unlikely ally in the Alpha.  It was comforting to be around someone they did not need to hide from.  Someone they could relax around, and he could not even count the hours they’d spent together in hesitant bliss.  Eren toying with his hair as he leaned between the prince’s knees, or the brunet’s head in his lap as he did the same.  All that time seemed like a fantasy now, a few moments of happiness stolen while the eyes of the Sisters’ had been turned.  Levi was grateful for Mikasa, even if he could not entirely ignore his annoyance at her presence in that moment.

 

“Where’s your Blade at, princess?”  More often than not Levi found Mikasa alone, having sent Jean on some errand or other.  The Alpha could understand how the presence of a First Blade could be stifling, if one did not enjoy being around them.  She rolled her eyes, pushing off the stone of the wall to stand in front of him.

 

“I sent him to check on my horse.  He’s probably rolling in the hay with his little Beta stable boy right now.  It’s not as though I need him joined to my hip all the time like you are to Eren’s.”  

 

Levi glared at her, turning and heading down the hallway, though where he was going, the Alpha couldn’t really say.   _ Away.   _ He was going  _ away _ , and that was all that mattered.  Even if he could not hear anything going on in that room he could feel it, tensing in his jaw.  An itch he could not scratch, and Levi felt like peeling his skin off might be the only way to soothe it.   _ Eren is talking to that Omega, will be touching him soon, will be- _

 

Levi shook his head, picking up his pace, teeth gritted so tight it was painful.  If he thought he would be rid of Mikasa that easily he was sadly mistaken.  She followed after him, and only when he heard the sloshing of liquid did he realize the Alpha was carrying a bottle of wine.  He shot it a disgusted look, lip curling as he spoke.

 

“I hope you don’t expect me to drink that shit.  I don’t intend to drown my sorrows in wine.”  Mikasa lifted the bottle to her mouth, taking a generous swig, before answering in a wry tone.

 

“Who said it was for you?  Where are you going anyway?”  Levi sighed, turning down a random corridor that led outside, trying to escape the suffocating walls that loomed around them.  He could not breathe in there, surrounded by the same stone that hid Eren from his sight.  Walls that stood silent around his  _ mate _ , along with the Omega who would thoughtlessly take all that was Levi’s.   _ Eren will take that Omega’s robes off, and lean in close, and-   _ Levi growled out words, anything to quiet the whispers in his head, and the images it conjured unbidden.

 

“That’s not really your concern, is it?”  She made a derisive noise, trailing after him without hesitation.

 

“You have no idea, do you?  Just trying to get away.”  Levi didn’t answer, feet carrying him faster toward doors that would bring him into one of the side courtyards.  Mikasa took another absent drink of wine before continuing, voice leaving no room for argument.  “Come to the training ring with me.  Let’s bash each other with wooden swords until we can’t stand.  Maybe when we’re done it will be safe for you to go back.”  Levi blinked as they emerged from the palace, his eyes adjusting to the darkness lit only by intermittent torches.  The stars already shining overhead,  glittering and immense.

 

Peaceful, and perfect, and Levi wanted to wrench them from the sky. 

 

He turned to Mikasa, and whatever expression he wore must have been wretched, because her face twisted with grief.  She tried to hide it, tried to smooth the emotion from her expression, and it almost worked.  But Mikasa so rarely wore anything but boredom on her face outside of battle, and Levi could see the traces of sadness lingering in the corners of her mouth, in the cloudiness of her eyes.  Gray like his own, though not the same shade, a pale reflection of the agony he tried to tuck away inside.

 

“Thank you, Mikasa.”  She shrugged, playing it off as no big deal, and Levi was grateful for that in ways he couldn’t explain.

 

“Don’t mention it.  I just like hitting you.”

 

Levi laughed then, no true mirth in the sound, and they made their way to the training area.   A circle blocked off by low wooden railings, the dirt well packed and even, a few stray lanterns burning nearby.  It was not the ring closest to the barracks, and was therefore not used as often, mostly just for officers who wanted to spar with one another away from the prying eyes of new recruits.  Guards would patrol the area as they did everywhere around the palace, but it would be awhile before their rounds brought them close.  There was no one in sight, nor could Levi scent anyone nearby, and that was a blessing of its own.  

 

Mikasa might very well hand him his own ass, considering the state he was in, and the Alpha was not exactly eager to make a show of it.  They both took off their sword belts, hanging them on the hooks nearby.  Each of the Alphas retrieved a pair of wooden weapons from the nearby supply room, squaring off on either side of the ring.  It had been a long time since he’d sparred with Mikasa, usually entering the training grounds and facing off with Eren.  Mikasa was often gone with her Jaegers, out on raids of Omega traffickers or illegal brothels, sometimes smugglers and street gangs.  Levi tried to remember when he’d last fought her, and came up empty.  

 

All his mind supplied when he thought of the ring was Eren standing across from him, eyes lighting up with ferocity.  All aggression, no hesitation, even when it would serve him well.  Always attacking, throwing every ounce of himself into the fray as though his life depended on it.  Eren battled gracelessly, wasting more energy than he needed to, muscles flexing this way and that as he avoided Levi’s blows.  Raining his own down one after the other, never giving Levi time to breathe, time to think.  Eren forced his opponents to give themselves over to instinct, bodies moving on their own to escape him.  There was something primal in the way he fought, something ancient and dark and unknowable.

 

Something fearless, and beautiful, and Levi’s chest ached to see it.

 

But Eren wasn’t in front of Levi.  He was in an Omega’s bedchambers, surrounded by luxury Levi himself had put there.  _  Eren will press the Omega back into soft furs, and knee his thighs apart.  He’ll shove his lips against the Omega’s throat, and open his mouth, and- _

 

The whimpering noise Levi made without meaning to drew him out of his thoughts.  Mikasa was watching him warily, both of her swords out in front of her, tips pointed into the air.  She did not acknowledge the desperate sound he’d made, nor did she say a word when Levi spun one of his weapons around into a reverse grip.  It must have looked strange the first few times she saw the Alpha wield his blades that way, but after one raid by Levi’s side…

 

Mikasa knew how deadly the Alpha was with his steel, no matter how he held them.  She waited in silence for Levi to gather himself, and when he fell into a fighting stance she did the same.  Her eyes questioning,  _ are you ready, _ and Levi nodded in answer, frantic to begin their bout.  Because if Levi was fighting, he could not be thinking of Eren.

 

_ Eren running a thumb across someone else’s lips.  Eren sinking his teeth into someone else’s throat.  Eren touching and tasting, Eren- _

 

Levi growled as he threw himself forward at Mikasa, all of his battle sense falling away.  He needed to feel his blade crashing against hers, even if it was wood and not steel.  Needed to feel someone straining under the weight of his fury.  Levi needed Mikasa to strike out at him, to land those merciless blows of hers against his flesh.

 

Levi needed to hurt.  On the outside, where it would show in his flesh, painted black and blue in the wake of his carelessness.  Levi wanted to wear his mistakes in his skin.  He needed pain he could see with his eyes, could touch with his hands.

 

Not this miserable fucking agony inside of his chest that made the Alpha want to reach inside and tear his own heart out.

Throw it down at Eren’s feet.

 

_ Look what you’ve done to me. _

 

Levi was about to swing his sword towards Mikasa when his mark swelled with heat, itching in his skin.  Demanding his attention, and all of it, right then.  A wave of emotion hit Levi, taking all the air from his lungs, and it tasted like Eren.  Warm, and familiar, coiling in his chest as though it had always lived there.  _  Lust. _  So potent Levi felt twinges of arousal stirring in his guts, the red filligree of his throat on fire.

 

_ Eren’s lust. _

 

Just as he’d felt Eren’s fright before, his brief terror at the idea of them being discovered so powerful Levi had come running from across the palace, the Alpha was now subject to something much worse.  Levi’s weapon fell from his right hand and he clutched at his ribs, a keening whimper easing between bared teeth.  He swayed on his feet as desire that was not his own raced in his veins, filling him up until Levi though it might spill from his mouth.  The Alpha was hard in his clothes, lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl even as pathetic, pained noises came out of him.  Eren’s desire creeping through their bond, bringing Levi to life against his will.  

 

His desire, not for Levi but for the Omega.  There was nothing washed out about it, nothing faint or intangible.  Eren’s want was ferocious.  Strong, and undeniable, and Levi felt betrayed.  

 

The strength of Eren’s emotion faded back a bit, wavering, and Levi did not have a chance to wonder why.  Mikasa knocked his feet out from under him with her sword, picking his dropped weapon up and throwing it at him.  The wooden blade smacked into his chest, and he caught it instinctively, glaring up at her.  

 

“Get up.  Fight me.”  Looking into those steely eyes, locked down with determination, daring him to argue…

 

She knew.  Mikasa  _ knew.  _  Knew he was feeling everything Eren did through their bond.  The Alpha had been expecting it.  It was why she’d been waiting outside of their room for Levi, why she’d sent Jean away.  The Alpha wanted to ask her why she’d bothered.

 

Levi had eaten out of trash piles for years, fighting for half rotten scraps of food, his stomach falling in on itself with hunger.  He’d taken brutal beatings from street merchants when he could not get away from them, happy to get a few mouthfuls of bread.  Later on, after Kenny had found him, Levi learned it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

 

And he usually asked with a blade.  

 

Then fate brought Levi to the palace, living under Erwin’s watchful gaze and later right to Eren’s side.  The first thing he’d thought when he’d laid eyes on the prince was,  _ ‘Look at that pompous little shit.’ _

 

Then,  _ ‘Gods, he’s beautiful…’ _

 

Levi was a fucking gutter rat who’d stumbled his way from back alleys and into Eren’s lap.  By all rights he should he using a rusty knife to earn his dinner in some seedy corner of the city.  Not a pair of blades worth more money than he’d ever seen in his entire life, the steel shining and perfect.  Dressed in clothes he’d once hesitated to even touch, terrified he’d get them dirty no matter how clean he was on the outside.  He didn’t deserve Eren, the  _ Crown _ goddamned  _ Prince _ , reaching out to brush the hair from his eyes.  Looking at Levi like he was everything, like he mattered.  Whispering low in his ear, voice ragged with desire.

 

_ ‘I love you, Levi.’ _

 

Didn’t deserve Mikasa, either, too smart for her own good, trying to drag him out of his misery by sheer force of will.  Waiting for him to stand, to push through the wash of Eren’s feelings and do what he had always done best.

 

Levi was nothing in this life before Erwin found him.  Was no one.

 

But even when he’d been nothing, by the Sisters, he could fight.

 

The Alpha shot to his feet like a man possessed, and their swords smashed together again and again.  Everywhere he saw an opening Levi struck, only to find Mikasa’s blade there instead.  They flew back and forth across the ring, moving as though they’d rehearsed their duel beforehand instead of decided to fight on a whim.  Levi fell back as Mikasa surged forward, ducking underneath her sword, arching away from her blows.  They poured around each other like water, in constant motion, visceral and unceasing.  The sounds of wood against wood crashed through the air, breaking open the silence of the night.  Thunderous, and overpowering, and Levi needed to keep hearing it.  Needed to keep moving, keep fighting.

 

Levi lost himself in the fray, thoughts of Eren shoved down somewhere dark within him.  The Alpha was breathless, gasping air into lungs that were starved for it.  Sweat pouring off his skin, arms aching under the strain of blocking Mikasa’s ruthless attacks.  

 

Then another vicious tendril of lust swam up in him, more powerful than before, and he almost went to his knees.  Hard again, painfully so, cock throbbing even as his eyes started to sting.  

 

_ Fuck.  Eren.  Fuck. _

 

Levi’s mark burned, on fire with the want that was seeping through their bond.

 

_ Eren’s taking that Omega, he’s buried between his thighs.  He’s biting his throat, he’s  _ kissing him, _ he’s whispering into his skin, Gods- _

 

The flat of Mikasa’s blade landed squarely on his wrist, sending one of his own weapons skittering across the dirt.  Pain stabbed through his arm, and Levi blocked her next strike through sheer instinct, swallowing a pitiful mewl down in his throat.  She tossed one of her swords away, squaring back off with Levi, waiting for him to attack.  When he did not she rushed forward swinging.

 

Levi managed to dodge the first set of blows even as heat coiled inside him.   _ Eren’s marking him, covering him in scent..   _ Levi ate another one of Mikasa’s strikes, this one in his gut, nausea rolling over him like a fog.  His breathing came even faster, and not from exertion, but from Eren’s lust.   _ He’s nuzzling into Armin’s hair, gazing into those beautiful eyes… _   Levi’s jaw shivered with the need seeping through him, a river flowing from Eren to drown the Alpha in desire.

 

Not desire for Levi, but for an Omega with soft skin and honey locks and a scent like the ocean.

 

Mikasa’s sword impacted his shoulder, and Levi got his own up in time to keep the next one at bay.  He wasn’t even trying to attack anymore, just struggling to keep up with her movements, left hand trembling where he held it against his chest.  Bright white agony bloomed from his back when Mikasa got behind him.  He landed a hit of his own on her ribs, catching her off guard, only to take another one to his collarbone.

 

A familiar tightness began creeping up his spine, so much emotion coming through his tie to Eren that Levi could not even think through the want.  Surging higher and higher, and Levi felt his mouth falling open.  He panted, sword falling from his grip to land at his feet.  Heat swam over his face, arousal twitching, hands shaking with the need to hold onto something, to someone.

 

To hold Eren close and breathe him in.  To taste his mouth.  To mark his skin.

 

_ Eren’s kissing him, he’s mating him…  He can’t, he’s MINE, he’s mine... _

 

One last vicious spike of pleasure had Levi in the dirt on his hands and knees, forehead pressed into the ground.  Shuddering, growling, and then all that restless desire disappeared into nothingness as though it never existed at all.  There was no mess in his clothes, no telltale wetness of climax.  Levi had not finished at all, despite what his brain wanted him to believe.

 

Eren had.  Inside of an Omega.  So close he might hear if Levi screamed, yet he might as well have been miles away.  The weight of inevitability fell over Levi like a shroud, heavy and suffocating.

 

Eren would fall in love with the Omega.  Levi fucking  _ knew.   _ He would love the Omega with all that he was, because Eren did not know how to do things halfway.  Eren would love him, and there would be nothing left for Levi, everything he cherished given away piece by piece.  To someone perfect, and beautiful, and soft where Levi was hard.  Smooth where the Alpha was scarred.  Someone clean, when Levi was so fucking filthy.

 

Someone worthy, where Levi was not, and he wanted to scream until his throat bled from the strain.

 

A sob broke out of him, and Levi sounded like an animal, keening into earth.  The Alpha quaked with his grief, and suddenly Mikasa’s arms were tight around him.  He held onto her, a man lost at sea clinging to his raft, the world spinning wild underneath Levi.  Tears fell down his cheeks, and he buried his face in her chest to hide them, clutching at her clothes.  As though she wouldn’t know Levi was breaking, if only she couldn’t see.  Mikasa squeezed the Alpha harder, face shoved into his hair, making soothing sounds.

 

“Shhh, I know, I’m sorry.  I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

 

She rocked him back and forth like an infant, Levi’s face wet and messy, soaking through the fabric of her shirt.  Later on, Levi would be ashamed of himself.  Would cringe at the memory of weeping like a child in Mikasa’s arms.  Weak, and devastated, unable to hold it all inside.

 

In that moment he was glad for her, and he cried into her skin for what felt like hours until his tears dried up.  Nothing left of them to cry, just an ache that burrowed down under his bones.  Then Levi stood up from the dirt and walked into the darkness alone, knowing she would not follow.

 

……

 

Levi washed himself off as best he could outside of the stables, ditching his filthy coat in the laundry before steeling himself and heading back to Eren’s quarters.  Their quarters, but he was not sure it felt that way anymore.  He stood outside the door like an intruder, terrified to go inside.  Afraid he’d find Eren there, marked from his mating and smelling of Omega.

 

More afraid that he’d find the room empty, Eren still tucked away in blankets and furs, wrapped in someone else’s arms.  

 

Finally he took a deep breath and pushed through the door, braced for the worst.  Levi wasn’t sure what exactly that would be.  What would hurt more? 

 

It seemed like even breathing made him shiver with agony. 

 

Eren sat cross legged on the edge of their bed, shirtless and barefoot, hair wet from a recent shower.   _ He washed his scent off.   _ Levi couldn’t decide if that made him happy or devastatingly sad.  The room was illuminated by a handful of candles, and they threw twisting shadows over him, light dancing across his face.  Eren hunched in on himself, eyes just as red as Levi’s own, and the Alpha knew he’d been crying, too.  There were a couple of bite marks on Eren’s throat, and it hurt Levi to look at them, throat closing up at the sight.  Not as much as it hurt to look at the brunet’s mating mark, though.

 

Complete.  Complete, and whole, just as it should have been when Levi put it there in the first place.  Levi wasn’t enough, but the Omega had been.  Enough to finish out that beautiful red circle on Eren’s neck.  Eren met Levi’s eyes, so much anguish in them, and the dark haired Alpha didn’t need a mate bond to feel it.  The brunet’s hand came up to his mark as if to hide it from Levi, and when he spoke it was so quiet, the Alpha could barely hear.

 

“His mark isn’t whole, either.  It looks like yours.  There’s something wrong with me.  I fuck up everything I touch.  Everyone I touch.”  There were shadows in his tone, and Levi stepped forward until he was right in front of Eren.  Close enough to touch, but neither of them reached out.  There was more than air between them, and Levi was not sure he could breach it yet.  He furrowed his brows, eyes flitting to the consort chambers and back.

 

“Did you hurt him?” Eren’s lip quivered, and Levi watched his eyes pool with wetness.  Shimmering and ethereal, and nothing so heartbreaking should look so beautiful.

 

“No, but I hurt  _ you _ .  I could feel you, through the bond.  I’m so sorry, Levi.”  

 

A tear slid down the brunet’s cheek, and Levi could not stop himself.  He lifted his hand, thumbing the moisture away.  Then his fingers eased into Eren’s hair, and the Alpha’s arms curled around Levi’s waist, so tight he could barely breathe.  Not tight enough.  Levi wanted him inside, wanted to tuck Eren inside of his ribs where no one else could touch him.  The Alpha hugged Eren’s face against his chest, burying his own in those familiar russet strands and breathing deep.  Eren did not smell like his Omega.  He smelled like soap, and Alpha, and grief.  

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Eren.”  Eren hissed out words against Levi’s shirt, muffled by fabric and flesh.

 

“Yes I did.  I… I liked it.  I like him.  I know you could feel it.  I don’t deserve you.  Either one of you.”  Levi stroked Eren’s hair, every word cutting him like a blade, steel twisting in his guts.

 

“Eren-”

 

“ _ I felt you hurting, Levi. _  And you know what I thought?  Not ‘I shouldn’t be doing this’ or ‘I wish things were different’.  All I could think was ‘I wish Levi was here, too.’  You were in agony, and I was in bed with someone else, thinking ‘If only I could have them both.’  I am fucking  _ wretched. _ ”  

 

Eren sounded devastated, and Levi would do anything to ease that pain.  Would crawl through flames, over broken glass, for miles and miles.  He would go to hell for this boy, a smile on his face all the while.  Would fight the whole world.  But there was only one thing he could do right then, and Levi wasn’t sure it would be enough.

 

“I’m here now.  I love you.  I’ll always love you.”  Eren shuddered out a breath against Levi, his whole body shaking with it.

 

“You shouldn’t.  I’m not worth it.”  Levi shoved Eren back into the mattress in one motion, straddling his thighs, face pressed in close.

 

“You are worth  _ everything _ , Eren.”

 

Levi took his mouth with a groan, and Eren came alive against him, hands hungry over the Alpha’s skin.  Levi’s fingers tangled in his hair, Eren’s thighs spreading wide, tongues writhing together.  Breathless, frantic, shoving into one another as though they were trying to crawl into each other’s skin.  Levi swallowed down the little whimpers Eren made, starved for them.  Growling against his mouth, teeth sharp on the brunet’s lips.  When Levi pulled back the brunet chased him, and the Alpha had to mumble his words against Eren’s skin in between fervent little kisses.

 

“What about… your Omega…  he’s right here… you bonded, he’ll…  he’ll feel this...”  Eren shook his head, tugging Levi’s shirt off and biting at the skin underneath it.

 

“He’s… he’s asleep, he’s dead to the world, I swear…”  Eren’s teeth sank into Levi’s chest, sucking up bruises beneath his mouth.  The Alpha arched into Eren’s bite, trying to find words through a haze of lust.

 

“I’m f-filthy, I… fought, I’m sweaty, I-”  Eren rolled them both, moving down between Levi’s legs and working his boots off one after the other.  Every movement eager, almost panicked, hands shaking as he laid them bare.

 

“I don’t care, I need you.  Now.  Please, Levi.”  

 

Something inside of Levi broke, because Eren never  _ asked _ for him.  Just took what he needed from the Alpha, all rough touch and sharp teeth.  Hissing and guttural and fighting Levi for dominance every step of the way.  Sometimes he won, sometimes not, but it was clear to the Alpha what Eren needed then.  To be taken, as he had taken another.  To try and paint over what he’d done in shades of desire that were familiar to him.  That were wanted.  That were welcome.  Levi could not refuse Eren anything in life, and this was no different.  

 

The brunet jerked Levi’s pants off, taking his underwear with them and shucking his own in kind.  When they were both nude he collapsed onto the Alpha, attacking his mouth, jaw quivering.  Eren rutted into Levi, arousals brushing against each other, and the Alpha could not bite back a moan.  _  You’re mine.  _  He rolled them again without breaking their kiss until Eren was on his back, kneeing the brunet’s thighs wide and settling between them.  Moisture leaked from the corners of their mouths, wet and messy, the slide of Eren’s lips perfect on his own.  

 

_ My mouth, and my kiss.  Mine. _

 

Eren reached over, fumbling with the drawer on the bedside table until he came back with a vial of clear oil.  Levi broke their kiss, growling when Eren moved down to his throat instead, biting down under the Alpha’s mate mark.  Leaving bruises there no one would see, etching his love in Levi’s skin, and it was so much better than the pain he’d tried to leave there before.  The Alpha snatched the bottle from Eren, popping the cork with ease and slicking his fingers.  He had not even finished setting it back down on the nightstand before Eren’s thighs were thrown impossibly wider, the brunet’s hands clutching at Levi’s back.  Viciously, clawing at the skin there, and Levi would wear red slashes up and down his spine from Eren’s grasping.  That was okay.

 

Levi wanted all his marks.  His bites, his scratches.  His bruises.  The Alpha would let Eren slice him open and pour all his feelings inside.  Levi would carry them around, an ache in his skin that told him what he needed to know.

 

_ You are wanted.  You are loved.  You are mine, no matter what. _

 

An ancient part of him surged up in answer, speaking without words, but no less clear.

 

_ Mine.  My teeth and my nails and my mark. _

 

Levi worked his fingers inside of Eren, taking his mouth again with a hunger that would not be denied.  First one, then another, the brunet shaking under his touch.  Hissing into Levi’s mouth, trying to pull him closer, kiss him harder.

 

Love him more, but that was impossible.  Eren loved Levi with everything he was.  Did not know how to hold back.  Never had.

 

Never would.

 

Finally Levi pressed inside of him, and when he was fully seated in Eren he pulled back from their embrace to look at him.  Eren was a fucking revelation, pupils blows wide, lips swollen from Levi’s kisses.  Cheeks pink, mouth open, hair falling over his face.

 

“Gods, you’re beautiful.”  Eren smiled, feet hooking together behind Levi’s back to pull them flush against each other, and he reached up to clutch at the Alpha’s hair.

 

“I love you, too.”  It was true, Levi knew.

 

He began moving inside of Eren, and there was no holding back.  Levi fucked him into the mattress, pillows falling off the bed, frame creaking with the movement.  Eren’s hands were everywhere, in Levi’s hair and on his skin and in his mouth.  He called Levi’s name in a voice that sounded like music to the Alpha, mewling out profanities and begging for more.

 

_ ‘Deeper.  I need you.  Harder, faster.  Levi, Levi, Levi.’ _

 

Levi obeyed, a slave to the Alpha beneath him, existing to do nothing but please him.  He wrapped a hand around Eren’s cock, stroking in time with his thrusts, ruthless and brutal and so fucking perfect.  He knew Eren was about to finish, could feel it in the way he tensed around his shaft, and Levi couldn’t resist.

 

He leaned down to those fresh marks in Eren’s neck and laid his teeth over them.  It was not an exact match, his own mouth different from the one that had left the bites, but Levi did not care.  It was close enough.

 

_ My flesh and my bones and my mate.  All of you, just mine. _

 

He sank his teeth into Eren’s skin until he tasted blood, and when he did Eren came over his fingers with a moan.  ‘ _ Yes, Levi, fuck…’   _ Levi kept moving his hand until Eren went soft in it, breathing in little hitching sobs, all of him sated and slack.  The erratic twitching of Eren’s muscles threw Levi over the edge, and he erupted into the Alpha with a growl.  His vision went white, spine arching forward, all of him shuddering in the sway of his orgasm.  Even in the throes of climax Levi tried to pull out, just a bit.  Enough so that his knot would not tie them together, at least.

 

Eren was no Omega, and his body was not made to be knotted.  A lesson they’d learned only after months of making love, neither one of them even aware such a thing could occur between Alphas.  It happened a few times before, and the brunet looked miserable for every one of them.  Eyes wrenched shut in agony, face twisted with pain.  Breathing hard the entire time, and when it finally released he’d been awash with relief.  Levi did not want to put him through that again.  Would do anything to keep from hurting him.

 

Then Eren’s legs went tight around him, and he forced Levi deep inside.  Holding the Alpha in place, refusing to let go.  Levi looked down, panicked and confused, trying to fight Eren’s grip.

 

“I’ll knot you, let go, let me-”

 

“I want it.”  Levi’s eyes went wide, and he brushed the hair out of Eren’s face, feeling himself swell inside.

 

“Eren-”

 

“I  _ need _ it.  Please.”  

 

It was too late to argue with him then, Levi’s knot sealing them together mercilessly.  If Eren’s Omega woke up they would be exposed, no way to break apart without subjecting Eren to torturous pain, which Levi would not do.  But with Eren’s warmth tight around him, his hands in Levi’s hair, his skin slick underneath the Alpha…

 

Levi did not care.  He needed this, too.  Needed to be bound to Eren.  If only for a while.

 

The Alpha eased them both onto their sides, gently, carefully.  Levi pulled furs up around them both, and hid his face in Eren’s throat, breathing in his scent.  Laced with his own, and it had never smelled so beautiful.  When the knot released they would have to clean up and get dressed.  Put away the oil, pick up the pillows and blankets that had fallen off the bed.  Clean up the evidence of the destruction they left behind, as they always did.  

 

Right then, though, Eren smelled of Levi.  Had Levi’s bite in his throat.  Levi’s knot splitting him wide.

 

_ Mine.  You’re mine. _

 

Levi felt the truth of it.  Deeper than flesh, inside his bones.  The Alpha clung to it, trying to hold onto that feeling for the days to come.  Trying to memorize it.  Levi could pull it out from within himself and remember what they were to each other.  Everything.  Always.  Then Eren’s voice sifted through his dark locks, quiet and somnolent, at peace with the whole world.

 

“I love you, Levi.”  

 

Levi kissed his throat in answer, eyes shut tight, and thought,  _ no. _

 

That is what he would carry with him, whether he liked it or not.


	6. To Reign

When Eren first woke up, everything was blissfully foggy.   Levi was in his arms, warm and strong and smelling like home, the fabric of the Alpha’s pajamas beautifully familiar on Eren’s face as he nuzzled into him.  Levi started to pull away only to have Eren tug him back, hands clinging sleepily to the Alpha, not quite awake but still unwilling to give up his mate.  He blinked through the darkness of the room, sunlight just barely creeping under the curtains, and tried to see Levi’s face.  Before Eren’s vision could focus, though, Levi pressed gentle kisses to his lips.   His cheek, his eyes.  Eren smiled, drowsy and content, basking in the Alpha’s affection.  Levi’s cool fingers brushed Eren’s hair back from his forehead, leaving one final kiss there, mouth lingering on the brunet’s skin.

 

“I’ve got to get dressed.  Sleep a little while longer, I’ll wake you in a bit.”

 

Eren closed his eyes and relaxed back into the pillows, grasping blindly for Levi’s hand.  He pulled it down to his lips, kissing Levi’s knuckles once, twice.  Three times.

 

“Okay Levi.”

 

Eren’s voice was rough with disuse, and he snuggled down into his bedding gratefully.  The furs were pulled up tight around him, Levi tucking him back into bed with easy touches.  One more brush of the Alpha’s lips on his hair, fingers petting the messy locks fondly, and then Levi was gone.  Still in the room, but moving so quietly that even if Eren had not been used to the sounds of Levi getting dressed it would not have disturbed him.  The Alpha’s feet moved silently over the floor, hands careful as they dug for his clothes, opening drawers and cabinets slowly so they made no sound.  The prince fell back into sleep easily, the scent of mate thick in his nose, his very presence soothing Eren like a lullaby.

 

The next time Eren woke up the room was bright with morning sun, candles burning on the desk and night tables, Levi’s fingers stroking his cheek.

 

“Eren.  Eren, love, you need to get up.”  

 

He squinted at the Alpha, clutching Levi’s hand and holding it tight against his mouth, brushing half formed kisses into his mate’s palm.  Eren made no move to get up, though, instead gazing at Levi lovingly.  The Alpha was already fully dressed, cravat tucked into a dark blue double breasted coat, the tails of which hung down behind him.  His white pants disappeared into riding boots that reached his knees, swords already strapped onto his belt, not a single hair out of place.  Levi looked more princely than Eren ever would, and a rush of pride swirled through him as he took in the sight.

 

Levi was regal, and strong, and devastatingly handsome.  And he was Eren’s, somehow.  The brunet couldn’t really wrap his mind around it.

 

Then Levi’s brows furrowed, and he eased his hand out of Eren’s grip to toy with his sword hilts, eyes darting to the other side of the room.

 

To the consort chambers, and everything came back to Eren in a rush, vague nausea tightening his guts and making it hard to breathe.  Eren was still staring at the door to Armin’s room as though it would come alive and strike at them when Levi spoke.

 

“Your parents want to have breakfast with you and Armin.  They’ll be in the east dining hall waiting for us in an hour or so.”  

 

Eren frowned as he sat up, one hand rising to cover his mate mark.  Fresh guilt washed over the brunet as he recalled the events of the previous night, and he opened his mouth to apologize again only to find Levi’s finger pressed to his lips.  Grey eyes stormy but resolved, thumb dancing across Eren’s mouth.

 

“Stop.  You can’t keep tearing yourself up over this.  Don’t be sorry.”  Levi glanced over to the door that loomed behind them again, and Eren couldn’t help but think that the room was ominous in spite of the utter harmlessness of its contents.

 

A little blond Omega curled up in soft furs, bright eyed and smiling and anxious to please.

 

Eren sighed, standing and fisting his hair, yanking on the already mussed strands.  Levi wanted him to brush all he’d done aside, and Eren wasn’t sure that was possible.

 

There were bites in his throat not made by the Alpha’s mouth, bruises in his skin not pulled up by Levi’s lips.  Eren could still feel the ghost of an Omega’s hands on him, clutching tight like the brunet belonged under his palms.  The prince had been owned by delicate fingers and little teeth and all the whimpering, breathy noises that came from a tongue that knew how to plead so perfectly it broke Eren inside.

 

It should disgust him, but it did not.  Made fire stir in places only Levi had ever brought to life, and Eren did not know himself anymore.

 

He was a stranger, and no amount of clean skin or fresh clothing or new furs would make him feel anything less than filthy. 

 

“It hasn’t even been a day, Levi.  I don’t know how to turn off what I’m feeling.  To act like nothing has changed.   _ Everything’s  _ changed.”  

 

Levi put his forefinger under Eren’s chin, drawing the prince’s gaze.  The dark haired Alpha looked up with so much emotion in his eyes that Eren’s breath caught in his throat.

 

“Some things are as they always were.  As they always will be.  I love you.  I still have your mark.  That Omega being yours doesn’t make you any less mine.”

 

Levi stood up on his toes then, and Eren met him halfway, mouths coming together slow and sweet.  They lingered there, Eren fighting the urge to take Levi into his arms, because if he did the Alpha didn’t know if they were capable of letting go.  Eren would slip himself into that mouth and under those clothes and against that skin.  Teeth in Levi’s throat, hands in Levi’s hair.  His new mate would wake in the next room with lust in his veins and an itch that demanded to be scratched, pulled from his dreams by the emotion pouring through the bond.  It was Levi who broke their kiss, easing back from Eren, their eyes lit up gold with want that could not be sated.

 

Not right then, anyway.  They both took deep breaths and blinked their eyes back to normal, and then Levi continued, voice low with suppressed need.

 

“It won’t always be easy, but I won’t just give you away.  I have to share you?  So be it.  It will take some getting used to, and it will be hard at first. But it will be harder with you being fucking miserable all the time, cringing and flinching every time you so much as think about Armin.  We’re going to be eating breakfast together, the three of us and your parents.  Have you considered that?  All of us in the same room, Armin on one side, me on the other?”

 

Eren winced at the thought, his guilt back again, sour in his mouth.  The man he loved, and the Omega he had claimed for his own.  It was too soon for Eren to love his new mate, and yet already when he pictured Armin there was a familiar warmth in his chest.  One the Prince had felt before when Levi first took his place at Eren’s side, one that grew into a fire that would consume him.  The prelude to something staggering and beautiful that Eren was powerless to stop even if he wanted to.

 

He wasn’t sure he did, which made him feel even more traitorous, and only Levi slapping him in the side of the head pulled him out of his thoughts.  

 

“See?  That’s what I’m talking about, I can feel your guilt through the bond.  Armin probably won’t be able to yet, but it will happen sooner or later as the tie strengthens.  You are going to live with this boy, Eren.  You will see him every morning, every night, at every meal.  Not only that, but he’s your mate.  Do you honestly believe he won’t expect you to act as such?  Last night is not the only one you’ll spend in his bed.”

 

The Alpha said the last words almost too quickly to make out, as if they tasted foul and he was eager to get them out of his mouth.  Eren glared at Levi, anger starting to rise up in place of his guilt.  It was Levi who insisted Eren take an Omega to hide their bond mark.  Who refused to tell Eren’s father they were mated.

 

Who put the good of the kingdom he served over his own happiness without hesitation, time and time again.  

 

Now Levi was scolding Eren as though he was a child, and the brunet growled at him in frustration.  His voice was louder than he’d intended, hands thrown up in a gesture of surrender, teeth bared.

 

“What do you want me to do, Levi?  This isn’t my fault!”  

 

Something broke in Levi’s eyes then, and his arms were around Eren in an instant.  Hands rubbing circles on Eren’s back, face buried in his chest, shuddering words out.  

 

“It’s mine!  My fault, and I’m sorry.  But I want you to stop tearing yourself up over it.  Last night was hard for me, and I know you felt it, and that hurt you.  It will get easier.  I can’t bear to watch you suffering because of me.  Because of choices I made.  I want you to know that I don’t hold any of this against you.”

 

Eren’s fury melted away, and he was left empty in its wake.  He wanted to be angry.  It would be easier than what he was feeling then, as though he couldn’t breathe.  Maybe Levi didn’t hold anything against him, but that didn’t matter.

 

Eren held it against himself enough for both of them.

 

He was helpless, and weak, and Eren wanted to weep suddenly.  Hugged Levi back instead, nodding into his hair, and the Alpha pulled back and kissed him again.  Fast this time, chaste, and Eren clung to the feeling of Levi’s mouth on his.  To how well he knew it. How soft it was, the little scar on the inside of Levi’s bottom lip, the way it fit perfectly against his own.  Too quickly Levi stepped away, hands on his swords as they always were when he was nervous, like he wanted to draw them but didn’t have anyone at which to point the steel.   He nodded at the door to Armin’s chambers with a carefully blank expression.

 

“I’ve got to go find out where they took his luggage and have it brought up so he can dress for breakfast.  If he didn’t bathe last night he’ll need to this morning.  Draw him some bathwater, and then wake him up so he can start getting ready.”

 

Levi reached out to ruffle Eren’s hair, a gesture of habit, and then he was gone without another word.  His footsteps clicked down the little hall that led to their door and then faded into nothingness.  Eren stared at the place Levi had been for a moment, forlorn, before turning to face the consort chambers.  

 

As though the Omega inside was some enemy to be vanquished, and Eren shook off the thought.  Memories of Armin swelled in the Alpha’s mind, of long blond hair tangled in his fingers and soft skin under his mouth.

 

Of hands that held on too tightly, and shook against the Alpha as he was taken.  A scent that riled with lust, thighs that fell wide in submission.  Lips that begged for more,  _ Eren please _ , and the Prince knew the Omega he’d claimed was not a foe that needed to be subdued.

 

Armin was his mate, and even through all the feelings of betrayal, Eren could not be truly sorry.  Could only regret the pain he’d caused Levi, not the act itself.  Not when Armin had felt so right underneath him, a piece he hadn’t known was missing snapping viciously into place.  

 

Being with Levi was perfect, his touch rough and commanding and everything Eren could want.  Even when Eren took the Alpha, Levi was fierce.  Teeth sharp and voice demanding, growling and snarling and ruthless, both of them taking even as they gave.  It was the nature of an Alpha, to claim and to seize and to dominate.  Eren loved him, more than he’d ever thought possible, with parts of himself that had not existed before Levi showed up.  He would have been happy with the Alpha for the rest of their lives, of that Eren had no doubt.

 

But Armin soothed flames Eren hadn’t known were burning him.  Relaxed muscles that had always been tense.  Satisfied pieces of the Alpha that had long been hungry for things that Levi could not give him, no matter how hard he tried.

 

An instinct that was starved for submission.  Something Armin gave up easily, and eagerly, with every part of himself.  

 

Eren wondered just how desperate the Alpha within Levi was for such perfect submission.  A mate that yielded so beautifully, without hesitance or struggle.  One that reveled in an Alpha’s dominance.  Eren wished he could give that to Levi, but it wasn’t possible.  He loved Levi.  Wanted Levi.  To take him, and be taken in turn.

 

He also wanted to fight him every inch of the way, some savage part of Eren taking pleasure from how hard Levi had to work to seize control.  Levi probably needed an Omega, too, but the very idea made Eren want to snarl.  Some delicate, mewling thing spreading their thighs for Levi…  Eren’s lips curled back from his teeth.

 

Then he pictured Armin straddling Levi’s lap, gasping into Levi’s mouth, and Eren shot hard in his clothes.

 

_ By the Sisters. _

 

Eren palmed himself through his pajamas, leaning forward to try and calm his thoughts, which had suddenly gone dark and heated places.  Levi kneeing Armin’s legs apart, teeth sinking into the Omega’s throat, that whimpering pink mouth whining out Levi’s name.  Armin rutting up into Levi, their arousals slick against each other, tongues writhing together.   _ Fuck _ .  Eren had literally never considered such a thing.  Alphas mated more than one Omega sometimes, but Omegas were never with multiple Alphas.

 

Because Alphas could not,  _ would  _ not share.  But Levi was already being forced to share Eren with another, and the idea of dropping his fresh little mate into Levi’s arms was not offensive to the Prince.  It was enticing, and delicious, and Eren wondered why this was the first time he’d thought of it.  Then he realized how much he was rushing things, miles ahead of himself when he’d yet to take a single step.

 

They did not know Armin.  Eren had only met him the night before, and the two had not done much talking, all things considered.  He didn’t know how well he and Armin would get along, or if Levi and the Omega would clash with one another.

 

Or if he’d balk at the thought of another Alpha in their bed.  One Eren had loved long before he laid eyes on Armin.  More than that, would Levi even want to?  Eren didn’t know, and now was not the time to be thinking on it all.

 

Levi would be back soon, and Eren still needed to start Armin’s bath and wake him.  It definitely wasn’t the right time to be imagining both his mates in each other’s arms, just as desperate for one another as they were for Eren.  

 

_ Sisters, help me. _

 

He forced his feet to carry him over to Armin’s door, fighting down the urge to knock.  Armin would think it strange if he was awake, his Alpha asking permission to enter the consort’s chambers.

 

Eren turned the knob, resting his forehead against the doorframe for the briefest of moments before easing the door open and heading inside.  Light filtered in through the curtains, and Eren let his eyes fall on the bed only to go painfully still at the sight.

 

_ Gods _ , it was like when he’d first been with Levi all over again.  Disbelief that such a perfect being would want anything to do with him, prince or not.  Armin was sleeping, naked and splayed out gracefully, one hand held up beside his face.  He’d kicked off most of his furs, and there was nothing to hide the mess Eren had made of him the night before.  Dried blood still lingered on his throat, the bites there bruised and vicious.  Eren had left Armin ragged and used and it was beautiful on him.  His long hair was a mess, tangled wild around his head, and Eren had the urge to brush it smooth again.  Run it through his fingers, press it to his nose.

 

Armin’s arousal was not sleeping like the rest of him, throbbing hard and leaking clear fluid over his stomach.  There was something shining between his thighs, the faint scent of slick teasing at Eren’s nose, and when he realized he was standing there staring at his drowsing mate with desire pooling in his guts the Alpha forced himself to action.  Eren headed into the bathroom, turning on the water in the tub and adjusting the temperature before putting the stopper in the drain and allowing it to start filling.  There were a myriad of luxurious bathing toiletries piled everywhere, most of which Eren didn’t really recognize.  He could pick out the bowls full of bath salts, a dozen different shades and scents, but hesitated to put them in.  Would they sting Armin’s bite wounds?  Eren didn’t want to take the chance, so he padded back over to the Omega’s bed, easing himself down onto mattress.  

 

It seemed almost sacrilegious to disturb Armin’s slumber, his expression slack and relaxed, a small smile playing over his lips.  Eren stared awhile before reaching out to brush some of those messy blond strands out of the Omega’s eyes, throwing a fur over his hips just in case Armin was embarrassed by his own nudity when he woke.  The Alpha stroked his knuckles back and forth over Armin’s cheek, watching those brows furrow with something bright blooming in his chest.

 

Something alive that throbbed alongside his heartbeat.

 

“Armin.”  He stirred, turning his face into Eren’s hand, and the Alpha let his palm cup Armin’s jaw.   “Armin.”  The Prince spoke a bit louder this time and Armin arched his back with breathy sound, but his eyes remained closed.  Eren grinned despite himself, running a thumb over the Omega’s mouth, and his next words fell out absent thought.  “Little mate, wake up.”

 

_ Little mate. _

 

Those bright blue eyes snapped open, blinking dazedly at Eren, but then all the fuzziness was gone from his gaze in an instant.  Armin smiled wide, stare going half-lidded, and he stretched like a cat before reaching up towards Eren.  The Alpha startled when those lithe fingers latched onto him, tugging Eren down with a strength that surprised the brunet.  He let himself be pulled, and Armin wrapped his arms around the Alpha, nuzzling into his chest.  

 

Eren was crooning before he could so much as take another breath, and when that first deep rumble poured out of his throat Armin sighed in bliss, body going slack and loose.  He nosed his way up Eren’s collarbones until he reached the Alpha’s mate mark, pressing his mouth there, and Eren couldn’t fight down a shiver at the sensation.  Armin trailed dainty kisses up Eren’s neck, over his jaw, to the corner of his mouth.  The Alpha was surprised at Armin’s eagerness, at his easy affection, and it must have shown on Eren’s face because the Omega hesitated, expression falling a bit.

 

“Is…  Is this okay, Alpha?”  Eren smiled down at Armin, arms going around the Omega naturally, as though he’d been holding him for years instead of less than a day.

 

“Eren.”  

 

“Is this okay… Eren?”  

 

Eren could do nothing but nod, and the darkness cleared from Armin’s eyes.  He leaned up, pausing a breath away from Eren’s mouth, questioning.  The Alpha closed the distance, kissing Armin reverently, and he could not seem to hold back.  Slipped his tongue into the Omega’s mouth and swallowed down the pretty little whimper it earned him, something savage surging up in his throat.  He began to get lost in Armin’s lips and touch and scent as they twisted against each other, the Omega’s legs wrapping smoothly around his hips.  Eren shifted until he was caging Armin in, pressing him down into the bed, one hand buried in those long blond locks.

 

They shouldn’t be doing this, not right then.  Not with Levi due to return any moment, probably feeling the tension rising in Eren like the tide.  His lust, and his want, dripping through the bond they shared to make Levi ache.  Eren hurt Levi more with every brush of his lips against Armin’s, every needy touch.  With the way his hips were rutting down into the Omega’s, cock throbbing with desire.

 

He hurt Levi by giving himself to Armin, and would hurt the Omega if he pulled away.  Would make him feel rejected.  Unwanted.  Eren was incapable of moving forward without causing someone pain.  All he could do was destroy.  Everything he touched.  Everyone.

 

But Armin had gone a lifetime without feeling someone’s skin on his, without knowing the heat of another person’s touch, and Eren could not deny him.

 

The Omega was grinding up into him then, arousal twitching against the fabric of Eren’s shirt, panting wretchedly.  Eren felt something frantic rolling through the bond, something that was not coming from Levi but Armin.  The Omega pulled back from their messy kiss, lips swollen and wet, and his voice sounded shredded.

 

“P-Please, Eren.”  Eren was confused, cocking his head at Armin, biting his lip.

 

“Please what?”

 

Eren did not know what he was asking for.  Then Armin blushed hot, letting his eyes fall away from Eren’s as he spread his thighs wide.  The smell of slick assaulted the Alpha, and a keening mewl from Armin hit the Prince like a physical blow.  

 

“ _ Please _ .”  

 

_ Fuck _ .  He took Armin’s mouth again, brutally, unable to stop himself.  Eren’s hands were clumsy as they pawed open the ties of his pants, everything he was screaming at him to obey.  To please his mate.  To sate his hunger, to ease his want.

 

Armin said  _ please _ , and the Alpha in Eren could only say  _ yes _ .

 

Anything.  Always.

 

So he palmed Armin’s thighs impossibly wider and slid himself inside of the Omega, kissing him all the while, murmuring low praise. _You’re so beautiful, you’re so precious, you_ _smell so good_.  Armin shook under the weight of the words, drinking them up, breathing them in like he was suffocating.  Eren felt a sharp stab of misery when he bottomed out, hips flush against Armin’s skin.  Whether the pain came from Levi or his own guilt, Eren wasn’t sure. 

 

All he knew was just how perfect Armin felt under him, how gorgeous he sounded, how sweet he smelled.  They moved together, Armin trying to force Eren closer, closer, closer.

 

When they came together and the Omega’s face twisted up in tortured euphoria, Eren could only think  _ Levi _ .

 

_ I wish you could see. _

 

There was a voice inside of Eren that would not be silenced, saying  _ he can _ .  Telling Eren that what was his was always Levi’s, too.  Even the Omega wrapped tight around his knot.

 

_ Everything you are belongs to Levi.  Everything he is belongs to you.   _

 

Eren picked his boneless, breathless mate up when the knot released and carried him into the bath.  He eased Armin into the warm waters, running a soapy sponge over the Omega from where he sat outside the tub.  The Alpha shampooed Armin’s hair, fingers scratching gently at his scalp, the blond relaxed and all but purring the entire time.  It was beautiful, the way Armin delighted in every touch, every caress.  A gift Eren had not asked for but been given all the same.

 

A gift he wanted to give to Levi, too.

 

He just needed time.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Tactile

After Eren left to get dressed for breakfast, Armin waited for either the prince himself or maybe a maidservant to return with his luggage.  Something for him to wear that day at the very least, preferably robes suitably formal for his first meeting with the king and queen.  He’d been trying his best to avoid thinking about being introduced to Eren’s parents.

 

Especially considering the bite marks littering both his and Eren’s throats, making it painfully obvious how their first night together had gone.  It wasn’t as though he could wear something collared and conceal the hickeys and imprints of Eren’s teeth etched into his skin.  The traditions of the Untouched were very clear.  The day after the mating took place, any marks or bruises were to be visible for everyone to see.  An accomplishment.  A milestone.  Something they were meant to wear with pride after enduring so many years of solitude, a display of their devotion to their new mate.  A wordless show of submission.  Even as he considered it, a creeping thought tripped through his mind.

 

If he wanted to wear something over his marks that day, who would stop him?  Not Eren, surely.  Armin didn’t need to ask to know that the prince wouldn’t care what clothes he decided to don.  And considering all the strides the king had taken to create better conditions for Omegas in his kingdom, with half the citizens fighting him tooth and nail every step of the way, Armin doubted Eren’s father would bat an eye, either.  He had heard very little about Eren’s mother, but she was supposedly a champion of Omega rights as well. 

 

An unexpected and dangerous tendril of freedom started edging its way under his skin, and Armin couldn’t decide if he should be excited or afraid.

 

The bathrobe he wrapped up in after climbing out of the tub and drying off felt inadequate, despite hanging almost to the floor and swallowing him whole.  He had a sense that he would feel exposed all day, even if he wore a set of armor instead of the loose Omegan robes that were all he possessed.  Armin eventually gave up waiting in the washroom and sat down at the vanity next to the bed to brush his hair, unable to do much else until his clothing arrived.  

 

It felt strange to be performing such a mundane task surrounded by unfamiliar luxury.  The brush he used had rubies inlaid in the handle, and shimmering opals circled the frame of the mirror he faced, drawing his eyes away from his reflection.  Anything he might touch was worth more money than Armin would have made in a lifetime of working in the brothels.  It should have been stifling.  Unsettling, as it had been the night before.  Being trusted with so much wealth when he had only just arrived in the palace was unfathomable.  

 

But Eren’s scent lingered in the room, remnants of both of them together, the very air swelling with undertones of mating.  Armin would have expected the smell to be unpleasant, something that made his nose wrinkle, that made him eager to change the bedding and clean and light candles.

 

Instead he wanted to crawl back into those furs and breathe it all in.  Roll in it, until Eren’s scent was back on his skin.  

 

He wondered if Eren felt the same way about him, if the Alpha would sniff absently at all the places they’d casually touched that morning and be soothed by the traces of Armin he found there.  Then again it hadn’t just been Armin’s scent Eren found so pleasing the night before.  Eren’s voice slipped through his memory, the words warm and lust-rough but leaving Armin cold.

 

_ ‘You smell like Levi.’ _

 

_ ‘You smell divine.’ _

 

Even so he found he couldn’t dwell on it.  He could turn everything that had happened over in his mind later, when he had the time to work through it.  When the castle was dark and quiet, and he was alone with his thoughts.  

 

When he no longer felt the vestiges of Eren’s teeth in him, muscles sore from being twisted up so magnificently less than an hour before.

 

He wasn’t so sure he’d go to bed that night without those same aches, though, made fresh by strong hands and a hungry mouth and an appetite he’d not yet fully whet.  Something warm stirred in his belly, and Armin had to fight down a sudden wave of arousal that threatened to overcome him, pushing it back and trying to focus.  

 

Armin combed through his hair idly as he allowed his mate’s scent to invade his senses, smiling when he realized he didn’t have to get Eren’s essence second hand off messy furs.

 

The Alpha would mark him again before breakfast, if only he could form the words to ask.  He’d press their necks together, mark to mark, and drown Armin in that delicious smell.  Armin glanced up automatically to look at his throat, and when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror he dropped the brush entirely, the noise of it clattering to the ground totally lost on him.  All those warm, contented feelings fled in a rush, leaving him cold and trembling.

 

His mark.

 

His mark was _ incomplete. _

 

He’d seen Eren’s the night before, and that very morning, whole and perfect.  Traced over it with his fingers.  Admired it wordlessly, wishing he could find his voice to tell Eren just how beautiful it was.  Not even the mark itself, though the red twisting filigree was aesthetically pleasing on its own.  The idea of it appealed to Armin even more than its physical appearance.

 

Yet his was only half formed, like a wax seal improperly stamped into his skin.

 

The panic was immediate and all encompassing, as though he’d woken up to find himself missing a limb with no indication of where it had gone.  Armin lifted his hand and touched the mark with shaking fingers, wiping at it like the rest might appear as he stared.  When it did not he made an involuntary whimpering noise in the back of his throat, his palm snaking out to lay flat against the vanity and support his weight before he slipped from his seat and collapsed to the floor.  His eyes stung, tears welling up and spilling over before he could even try to blink them back.  It was hard to breathe, and the weak lungfuls of air he managed to take in were too hot somehow, making his chest hurt.

 

Broken.  He was  _ broken, _ and now Eren would have no use for him.  Why would the Crown Prince tolerate an imperfect mate by his side, flawed and disfigured where all the nobles could see?  He’d be sent back to the consort house, or worse.  Maybe they’d sell him to a brothel instead, to recoup some of their financial losses.  Not that a  _ used  _ Untouched would be worth much, compared to what they’d paid.

 

Armin was  _ worthless. _

 

And the bond would have to be severed before any sale could be completed.  No brothel or tea house or low end consort dealer would put up anything for an Omega with a mate bond on his throat.  He’d seen Omegas forcibly unbonded, both by the death of their mates and an Alpha’s sudden rejection.

 

_ Painful  _ wasn’t an adequate description of what they went through.

 

It always sounded like they were dying.  They wailed, and cried, and mourned like they’d lost a loved a one instead of just a tattoo in their skin.  With his bond rushing fresh in his blood, the heat of his mark on his throat, Armin thought he finally understood why.  

 

It would be like cutting off a piece of himself.  Newly formed, and tender, and by the Sisters, it would be  _ agony  _ to feel it bleeding.

 

He hadn’t heard the door opening over the frantic pounding of his heart, or the soft thud of his bags being dropped to the floor, but then the scent of Alpha filled his nose.  Armin’s first thought was to hide from Eren, to make himself small, to flee into the bathroom.  Climb under the bed, or into the wardrobe.  His instincts were faster, though, and when they detected the presence of a familiar Alpha behind him, they were undeniable.  Armin turned, shoving his face into the warm, waiting chest, strong arms coming naturally around him.  Some of the tension eased out of him at that first deep breath of Alphan scent, but then his mind caught up with his nose and he realized…

 

Levi.  It was Levi he was clutching at, not Eren.  Not his mate, even if there were traces of Eren clinging to the Alpha somehow.  Armin tried to pull back, even with his Omega protesting loudly at the thought, but Levi’s hold was strong and certain.

 

“Is this about your mark?”  

 

Levi’s voice sounded deliberately wary, and Armin knew he must have seen him looking at his throat in the mirror, but still he didn’t answer.  Couldn’t.  Speaking it aloud would make it real somehow, and Armin wanted to keep hiding in the safety of silence.  Levi continued on, hands rubbing gentle circles into Armin’s back despite the stiffness of the Alpha’s muscles and the obvious discomfort in his scent.

 

“I... know of an Alpha with a mark like that.  Half formed.  But it’s not an indication of a weakness in the tie between him and his mate.  He can sense his mate’s emotions through their bond, tell what he’s feeling, even from far away.  There’s no way he’d be able to do such a thing if their mate bond wasn’t powerful, right?”  There was a hint of uncertainty in Levi’s voice that Armin couldn’t quite place, like he was asking a question instead of trying to soothe Armin’s nerves.

 

“I… I guess not.”  Levi sighed then, muscles relaxing a bit against Armin, one hand fisted in his robe.

 

“It’s not some kind of failure.  You didn’t do anything wrong.”  It felt like he had, but Levi’s tone left no room for argument.  Still, Armin’s doubts were not so easily placated.

 

“But what will Eren think when he sees it?  I’m supposed to be this… this perfect example of Omegan ideals, and my mark is deformed.”  At the word ‘deformed’ Levi froze for the barest of moments, something uneasy slipping into his demeanor.

 

“He already saw it, last night.  He thinks it’s his fault, and that you’ll be upset with him.  Eren doesn’t blame you for this.  He tends to blame himself for everything, if no one is around to argue otherwise.”

 

Armin tried to let the words sink in, torn between relief and denial.  It seemed too easy, his shortcomings so readily cast aside before they were even addressed.  

 

He also knew he should have already extracted himself from Levi’s arms.  There was no rational explanation he could give, to himself or anyone else, for being wrapped up with an Alpha who was not his own.  

 

But Levi was warm, and his presence quieted down those shivering tendrils of fright that wanted to rise to the surface within Armin.  Even so...

 

“Eren talked to you about it?  About my mark?”  Armin kept his nose buried against Levi’s chest, unwilling to look into his eyes and face whatever challenge might be there.  Not that he scented anything of the sort from Levi.

 

Nothing but calm, and maybe confusion.  All his life he’d been told that Alphas were to be feared.  It had been ingrained in him.  Respect, even for Alphas one did not know.  Caution, wariness.  Not because they deserved it, but because any Omega with an ounce of self preservation knew better than to push their luck.

 

Less than a day after encountering an Alpha for the first time, wrapped up in the arms of one other than his mate, and all Armin felt was safe.  He wasn’t sure if that spoke to the character of the Alphas he was with, or his own stupidity.

 

Maybe both.

 

Levi murmured, low and placating, like one might talk to a spooked animal.

 

“There is very little Eren keeps from me.  If that troubles you, I am sorry.  We can do our best to refrain from discussing you, if you would rather.  Though sometimes we will have to, if your safety and well being are concerned.”  Armin shook his head, finally pulling away from Levi, eyes still locked on the ground.

 

“No, it’s… it’s fine.”  When Levi noticed Armin easing back he moved all at once, taking a generous step away and straightening his clothes like they’d been ruffled.  Only then did the oddness of the situation really set in, and Armin met Levi’s gaze without thinking.  “Where is Eren?  I thought he’d send a maidservant to bring my things, or maybe come himself.”

 

Armin left the rest unspoken.

_ Why did my mate send another Alpha to my chambers? _

 

Levi made a face that Armin wouldn’t be able to decipher even if he lived a thousand years.  Brows furrowed, eyes darting up to ceiling like he was searching for an answer there that he knew he’d never find.  He huffed out a breath, though whether it was annoyance or something else, Armin couldn’t be sure.

 

“He said he needed to speak with his parents before breakfast, and that he didn’t feel comfortable allowing anyone else into your quarters just yet.  He told me to bring you your luggage, and assist you in any way necessary.  If you want me to go…”  Levi met his eyes again, offering up a helpless shrug, like he thought Armin was going to dismiss him.  “I can go and leave you to it.”

 

Armin gave him a once over, eyes lingering on the hilts of his swords, the daggers sheathed at his waist, the harsh line of his mouth.  Even the way Levi held himself gave the impression that he was poised for a fight, a breath and a word away from battle.  Not that he was unstable, or seemed eager for violence.  

 

It was just something he’d been forged for, something innate in his makeup.  A wolf was always a wolf.  Bringing it inside and brushing its fur didn’t make it any less dangerous.  For Eren to send Levi to him...

 

It was like drawing a knife to stir tea, and Armin wanted to laugh.  The idea of Levi sifting through piles of robes or working the delicate clasps of a necklace was almost unimaginable.

 

“I don’t mean to ah... be disrespectful, Levi, sir-”  Armin wasn’t done talking, but Levi shook his head, frowning, waving a hand dismissively through the air.

 

“No ‘sir’.  Just Levi.”  He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to call the Crown Prince ‘Eren’ in front of a crowd of nobles the day after they’d met.  He definitely couldn’t call this Alpha by his first name where anyone could hear without adding his title in front.  His whole life, the formalities of court had been drilled into him mercilessly.

 

But there was no one to hear but them, and Armin’s room smelled like mate.  Like himself, and Eren… and Levi.

 

“Levi, then.  I can get myself dressed, I always have, it’s no trouble.  Though…  I’ve never had to do my hair on my own, and I mean no offense, but I’m not sure how much help you’d be.”

 

Levi sucked air through his teeth, managing to look both smug and indignant all at once.  He scooped up the fallen brush and gestured with it, urging Armin to turn around.

 

“Sit down, princeling.”

 

Armin obeyed without thought, even as the sight of Levi wielding a hairbrush like some kind of weapon settled into his mind.  It was absurd, but not unpleasant, and then Levi started brushing.  

 

He worked the tangles from Armin’s damp hair without pulling, without tugging.  Not even the Omegas in the consort house were as gentle as the Alpha behind him, fingers slipping into Armin’s locks from time to time to ease out a particularly bad knot or separate sections of hair.  Armin’s hair was long, and thick, and it was no simple matter of quickly combing through it.  It was an ordeal, always, and Levi was managing it effortlessly.  Skillfully.

 

When his fellow Omegas did his hair before, it was one of the few brief moments of contact he was allowed as an Untouched, and a lifetime of instinct had him leaning into Levi’s hands.  Eyes falling closed, his whole body relaxing as the Alpha meticulously ran the brush down the length of his hair again and again.  

 

“You’ve done this before.”  Armin sounded almost drunk.  Touch did that to him, and one night of being indulged in it wasn’t going to change things.  He could all but  _ hear  _ Levi shrugging, yet opening his eyes seemed like too much effort right then.

 

“I’ve done a lot of things before.”  

 

Armin smirked, arching into Levi’s fingers, unable to tame down the raw bliss that rolled through his scent.

 

“I bet you have.”  There was an unspoken question in the statement, wry amusement, and Levi took the bait beautifully.

 

“I didn’t come to the palace from the military, or some noble family.  I lived in the slums for a long time.  Worked in some Omega brothels, hired muscle, but an Alpha with no interest in women tends to find himself doing more than just keeping out unsavory characters.  So I can work a brush.  If you’d like me to find you a palette, I can do your makeup, too.   _ Your Highness. _ ”  

 

Armin cracked one of his eyes open at the sarcasm in the Alpha’s voice, grinning in the mirror at Levi.  Then he seemed to realized he’d run his mouth a bit more than he’d intended, and Levi resolutely kept his eyes on his hands as he brushed.  

 

“Pick out whatever clips or jewelry you want me to use,”  Levi said, almost finished with his work.

 

The first response that tried to surge over Armin’s tongue was-

 

_ ‘Choose for me, Alpha.’ _

 

He could taste the flirtation in the words even as he bit them back, the sultry, teasing tone that threatened to spill out of his mouth.  Could feel the smirk in danger of creeping over his lips, the glint ready to light up his eyes.  His head was already cocked to the side, Armin baring his throat automatically.

 

An invitation, however instinctive and subconscious, for Levi to sink in his teeth.

 

_ What is wrong with me? _

 

Armin didn’t know.  He selected a pair of jeweled hair sticks and a handful of clips without paying much attention, looking down to hide the flush that was forming on his cheeks.

 

But it didn’t feel wrong, Levi’s hands sinking deep into his long locks to twist and tug and sift.  Fingers scratching against his skull, pressed in close enough that Armin could feel Levi’s heat at his back.  A hesitant glance at their reflection in the mirror revealed eyes that weren’t gray but lit up gold with emotion.

 

Then he looked towards the doorway to find Eren standing there, his own eyes shining just as bright as Levi’s.  Arms crossed as he leaned against the frame, expression pleased, and hungry.

 

A smile full of teeth, fond and worshipful, and Armin didn’t know if it was for him.

  
  
  
  
  



	8. Sharp

In hindsight, it should have been obvious to Levi, what Eren was doing.

 

But everything seemed so innocuous at first.

 

Levi had come back with the luggage containing Armin’s clothing, a troubling number of Omegan robes and slippers and nothing else as far as Levi could tell, only to find Eren dressed and heading out the door.

 

“Help him ready himself for breakfast.  He’s too skittish for a maidservant just yet, and I don’t really want one in our quarters anyway.  I’ve something to discuss with my father,” and then Eren was gone, boots clicking down the hall before Levi could respond.

 

Considering the secondhand lust that hit him that morning after he sent Eren to Armin’s quarters, Levi thought Eren was running, and he didn’t blame him.  It hadn’t been as bad as the previous evening, the heat licking down Levi’s spine, a blush on his cheeks, teeth gnawing at his lips.  He wasn’t able to ignore it, exactly, but it was almost entirely a physical issue, rather than an emotional one.  The sensation didn’t come with nearly as much grief and anxiety as the first time.  Not as much jealousy, just the briefest sparks of it lighting him up before fading away to something manageable.   Something resigned.

 

Maybe because Levi wasn’t expecting it.  

 

Like having a dislocated bone slotted back into place, so much worse when one was braced against it.  

 

It still ached, but it didn’t leave Levi broken.

 

So when Eren ducked out their door as fast as he could, Levi assumed he was escaping, and he let him go without comment.  If Eren wanted to deal with their situation by avoiding it entirely, Levi would allow him to do so.  While he could, anyway.  When Eren was upset at himself it was better to leave him be most of the time.  His emotions were volatile, but often short lived when they flared.  A fire that would burn out, or at least settle down into something less dangerous.

 

Except Eren wasn’t running.

 

It was tactical evasion.  Setting Levi up like a piece on a chessboard, ready to fall in place as Eren knew he would.  There were only so many directions Levi would move in, and Eren had learned his patterns, his tendencies, his tells.  Memorized him, inside and out, only to lay him out in Armin’s path, and wait on them to collide.

 

Eren never hesitated to be subtly manipulative when it served him well.

 

It was what kings did, after all.  He should have seen it coming, but Levi was still raw with stress and stretched taut, and Eren blindsided him.  It was only later that he put it together, looking back, perfect vision in hindsight yet blind in the moment.

 

Which was how Levi ended up with his fingers buried in Armin’s hair, the tips glancing over his exposed throat, skin flushed the barest pink under Levi’s touch.  If it took him longer than it should have to twist Armin’s locks up into place, well, it had been years since he’d styled anyone’s hair.  His skills were rusty with disuse after joining with the Royal Guard and moving into the palace, where there was no harem in need of his protection, no poorly treated Omegas desperate for a gentle set of hands.

 

Or that’s what he told himself.

 

Levi was precise in everything he did.  With his words, with his blades.  The way he carried himself, his clothes, his demeanor.  He couldn’t afford anything less than perfection, not with the way every noble outside the Jaeger family watched like hawks, waiting for him to falter.

 

Like he was some kept predator who would remember itself, and strike out at its captors.

 

Unless he was alone with Eren, Levi was deliberate, and measured, and unfailing, because he could be nothing else.

 

Yet Levi’s hands were clumsy on the delicate clasps of Armin’s necklaces, fumbling over the tiny jeweled chains on his wrists, uncertain as they clipped stray hair into the intricate, messy bun he’d woven atop Armin’s head.  And Armin, fuck, it wasn’t his fault, the way he reacted to Levi’s touch.  He’d been starved for it all his life, denying himself something he instinctively craved.  Trying to make the best out of what he had, which was nothing but his dynamic, and his will.  For safety, for security, for stability.  A life off the streets, without hunger gnawing in his belly, or bruises and broken bones, but also without comfort.

 

So Levi couldn’t blame Armin for leaning into his hands as they worked on his hair, or fastened his jewelry.  Pressing back into Levi’s stomach with his shoulders, neck arching to the side in wordless offering as his scent swelled around them, sweet and enticing.

 

Telling Levi lies without realizing it.

 

_ You can have me, I am yours. _

 

Hooded eyes, tongue darting over his lips, effortlessly seductive.  It wasn’t his fault, how his instincts were taking him over in quiet little ways, and it certainly wasn’t his fault that Levi reacted to him.  His eyes lit up bright, his hands lingering on Armin’s throat, thumbs brushing soft over his mate mark for no real reason.  He just wanted to touch it, needed to feel it under his fingers, to appreciate the way it warmed for him.

 

The Alpha in Levi was rumbling with satisfaction.  Armin had been frantic when he came in, worried over his incomplete mark, and now he was soothed, smiling and pliant as Levi served him.  Armin said he could dress himself, but Levi found himself digging through his robes, the urge to choose for him overwhelming.  He needed to do this every day, fix Armin’s hair, help with his clothes, fasten his jewelry.  Ease his worries, and care for him, keep him safe and-

 

Levi had shaken himself, and left in a rush to let Armin to finish dressing, frightened by just how out of hand his instincts were.  

 

All an Omega had to do to utterly own Levi was smile at him.  

 

Except he’d lived with Omegas for years, and none of them had ever had such a powerful effect on him.  

 

A dark thought flitted through Levi’s mind, one with unpleasant shadows that had Levi glaring at nothing.

 

Would Armin point those pretty eyes at every Alpha in the palace?  At every Beta?  It wasn’t as though he’d be doing anything wrong.  Nobody owned him, and he barely knew Eren, even if they’d bonded already.  Omegas weren’t property, no matter how badly some Alphas wanted them to be.  After nearly two decades of solitude and sequestering, it would only be natural to revel in whatever sort of power he could take for himself.  But something ugly flared up in Levi at the idea all the same, possessive of someone that wasn’t his to claim.

 

His worries were grossly misplaced.

 

Eren returned eventually to escort Armin to breakfast, looking anywhere but at Levi, who followed after them dutifully, and Armin folded into himself as soon as they entered the hallway, all the subtle teasing and bravado gone as though it had never been there in the first place.  Levi trailed behind them, and every guard they passed had Armin cringing, pressing closer to Eren, shooting Levi vaguely panicked glances over his shoulder.  Levi could scent his anxiety, even from a dozen paces away, an Omega’s silent plea for protection in an unfamiliar place.

 

They moved past a trio of Alphas as they neared the dining hall, some of Commander Smith’s newest men, their gazes curious as they stared at Eren’s new mate.  They stood spread across the hallway, taking up too much space, talking loudly with one another.  

 

Armin tripped over his own feet in his eagerness to get further away from them, and the look Eren gave them was icy.  Their eyes went down in unison, appropriately chastised, and Eren kept walking, tugging Armin closer.  Yet when his back was turned the respectful deference they’d put on for their prince disappeared all at once, like a candle blown out, leaving amusement in its place.  

 

Just like an Alpha, to find an Omega’s discomfort entertaining.  Even the prince’s consort wasn’t exempt from such casual disdain, evidently.  Levi had seen these men recently in the barracks, and briefly wondered where Erwin found them, and why he’d brought them into the castle when they were still so rough around the edges.  

 

Then again he’d brought Levi there, bloodstains in his clothes, stitches holding him together like seams.  Ready to bare his teeth, or draw a blade.  He understood what it felt like, that instinctive urge to dislike Eren even if he didn’t know him, to feel distaste for the fineries he’d been denied all his life, yet had been dumped into the prince’s lap.

 

But Eren was Levi’s mate, and he wouldn’t let Armin be made light of, even if no one saw but him.

 

Levi pushed past the Alphas roughly, knocking two of them into the wall with a hard shove, catching the other at the ankle with one of his boots and unbalancing him.  They all fell in a heap, save Levi, who turned around, walking backwards a few paces as they glanced up at him in a mix of anger and confusion.

 

“Excuse me, I didn’t see you there.  Terribly sorry.”

 

He couldn’t help the smug grin on his face when they saw who’d run into them, the lot of them torn between wanting to confront him, and knowing it wouldn’t end well for them.  Not just because of who Levi’s master was, either.

 

They’d crossed swords with Levi before, and raised their fists against him in the training ring.  It wasn’t a fight they could win, and they lowered their gazes, scowling.  Only then did he turn back around, back straight, eyes front, expression serious.

 

The picture of a perfectly obedient soldier when Commander Smith rounded the corner, and Levi listened to the Alphas behind him scramble to their feet, suppressing the urge to grin again.

 

There was very little as satisfying as putting men like that in their place.  Alphas who thought their dynamic made them better, somehow.

 

Levi picked up his pace, falling into step beside Armin.  He relaxed almost at once, and Levi wasn’t sure if Armin was aware of himself when he reached out to cling to Levi’s sleeve with his free hand, but he didn’t call attention to it or shake him off.  

 

It had been a long time since someone other than Eren sought solace in Levi.  Someone softer.  Someone gentle, not by nature necessarily, but by design.  

 

Levi had seen Omegas gut Alphas who abused them, who threatened them, who tried to take take what wasn’t theirs.  They were not instinctively weak, but it was often demanded of them, the learned behavior of innate submission that they would normally only offer up to someone worthy.  A mate, a lover, a protector.

 

There was nothing wrong with Armin as he was.  Nothing wrong with being soft, with being gentle.  But Levi wondered what he’d look like with a knife in his hand.  With a sword, or a bow.  In a fighting stance, dressed to spar instead of in robes fit only for sleeping.  Armin was beautiful with sapphires in his hair and silver at his throat.

 

He’d be breathtaking with steel in his palm and fire in his eyes.  Dirt on his face.

 

Blood in his teeth.

 

Levi wondered if it was something he would want.  Then again, why would he?

 

This was the culmination of his dreams, his goals realized.  A crown for his head, one day.  A throne underneath him, a king by his side.

 

Still, the thought would not leave his mind as Armin clutched at his sleeve, cautiously smiling at him.  Eren pretended not to notice, and when they sat down across from the king and queen it was with Armin between them.  

 

Levi was listening, and yet miles away, lost in his head.

 

Picking out swords, and dressing Armin for a fight.

 

Pretending he didn’t want to be there, rolling in the dirt with him, showing Armin what he was capable of, if only someone took the time to teach him.

 

Eren would fall in love with him.  It would be easy to do.  Levi could see it happening already, the way he brushed Armin’s hair back from his face, the lingering touches on his arm.  

 

Things Levi and Eren were not allowed to have, not where anyone could see.  The sort of casual affection they had to hide behind walls, secret away in corners, tuck beneath their blankets.  And Eren, he hated hiding his feelings.  It took something out of him, pretending to be less than Levi’s mate.  Maybe Levi hated it more than he’d realized, because the envy he felt wasn’t about a person, exactly.  Wasn't about Eren, or Armin.

 

It was Eren’s mark, out in the open.  Armin leaning into his shoulder, their arms entwined.

 

Belonging to one another, for everyone to see.  

 

Then late into the meal, when everyone had finished eating, there was something nudging at his thigh.  Levi looked down, and Armin’s hand was there, knuckles against Levi’s leg, palm in the air.  Fingers curled, but open, an obvious invitation. 

 

_ Take my hand. _

 

Levi couldn’t.  They were in the dining hall.  Jean was two seats down with Mikasa, the king and queen across from them, servants flitting busily around the room.  Eren was there.  Eren was _Armin's mate._ He couldn’t be seen holding the  _ prince consort’s  _ hand at breakfast.

 

Yet Levi’s Alpha wasn’t giving him a choice, and his fingers slotted in between Armin’s, calloused and rough against his too-smooth skin.  Closed around them tight, thumb sliding over his knuckles.  Armin pressed his cheek into Eren’s arm, but looked at Levi instead.  Warm hands, and bright eyes, and a smile that could rule the fucking world.

 

When he glanced over at Eren, guilt creeping into his bones, Levi felt caught in a whole new way.  Because Eren was smiling at him too, dark and knowing and mischievous.  The same look he got before pressing Levi into a wall, or throwing him over his shoulder, or manhandling him into bed.

 

A look that said he knew what he wanted, and intended to get it.

 

It was what kings did, after all.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no fic. Gimmie some comments my dudes.


	9. Regal

Eren had a lot of practice feigning interest in things that were not, in fact, interesting, and even more experience hiding his own annoyance when the situation called for it.  Lengthy state dinners, meetings with foreign dignitaries, nobles asking his father for various favors or assistance.  

 

Eren didn’t feel compelled to pretend he was anything but bored as he watched Levi talk back and forth with the palace tailors.  Not that it mattered.  He sighed heavily for the tenth time, totally unnoticed by the trio sitting across from him as they discussed clothes.  Not for Levi, who wouldn’t agree to having any new garments made unless he’d worn something out, and definitely not for Eren, who had an entire room in the palace of nothing but outfits for Levi to peruse and fill his wardrobe with.

 

The trunks full of robes Armin had brought with him were apparently insufficient, according to Levi anyway, who’d spent a great deal of time frowning at them earlier before taking Armin’s measurements.

 

Scowling at nothing, and blushing, and fighting not to stare too hard as Armin twisted this way and that for him.

 

It had been a long day for Armin.  He’d been introduced to the royal family and all their guards and personal servants, as well as subjected to a veritable inquisition by the kitchen staff about his food preferences.  What was his favorite dish, his favorite fruit, his favorite dessert?  By the time the cooks were done questioning him it was nearly lunch, which they ate in a much smaller dining room, the servants falling all over themselves to please Eren’s new mate.

 

After lunch they managed to tour only one wing of the castle before Armin seemed utterly overwhelmed, looking around like he was lost, eyes glassy and unseeing.  Eren led them all back to their quarters and disappeared to speak with his parents, leaving Levi to help Armin unpack his belongings.  

 

Definitely because it was convenient, and not because he wanted Levi and Armin to spend time alone together in the Omega’s bedroom, getting to know one another.

 

Watching the two of them was deeply satisfying on an instinctual level that Eren hadn’t really expected.  Armin held Levi’s hand when he thought no one was looking, and clutched at his sleeves as they walked down the halls, and pointed those shy little smiles at him.  Eren had been on the receiving end of those smiles several times already, Armin looking up from underneath his lashes, bright eyed and breathtaking.

 

Levi didn’t stand a chance.

 

He’d encouraged them to talk and interact as frequently as possible, and his pitiful attempts at subtlety might fool Armin, but they definitely weren’t lost on Levi.  Every time Eren redirected some question from himself to Levi, each time he stepped away for something and left Armin by Levi’s side, all the casual compliments he managed to fit into the conversation, singing Levi’s praises…

 

It was probably heavy handed, but Eren couldn’t afford to take things slow.  He didn’t have the patience for it, and he couldn’t abide the pain he’d felt through the bond that first night, swelling from Levi and into himself.

 

Even secondhand it would break him.  Levi would bear it, though, silently and without complaint, until he was a shadow of himself.  Eren had worked too hard to force his way through Levi’s defenses to lose what they had between them.  

 

It was too precious to be thrown away just because Levi was afraid.  Of being disloyal to the kingdom, of being selfish, of what might happen if the truth got out.

 

Levi would martyr himself without hesitation, just to keep Eren from being judged by a few dozen haughty nobles.

 

So Eren told Armin to let Levi know if he needed anything.  That Levi would help him dress if he required it.  Would brush his hair, and fasten his jewelry, and run his baths.  For now, until Armin was more comfortable, until he had his bearings, until they could find someone suitable to serve as his Blade.

 

All the little things an Alpha would usually do for their brand new mate, but Eren didn’t mind missing out on the domesticity of it if it meant Armin and Levi were forced to spend more time together without him present.  

 

Dinner came and went uneventfully that first evening, Eren’s mother monopolizing Armin’s attention without trying.  He could only grin and bear it, thankful she wasn’t bringing up grandchildren yet.

 

Night had fallen in earnest by the time he left Armin sleeping in his bed, fresh hickeys on the inside of his thighs, totally exhausted.  

 

When he emerged from Armin’s chamber Eren found Levi there.  Flushed with a guilty look on his face, perfumed smoke drifting out of the censer on the desk. 

 

They only burned incense to cover up the scent of sex in the room, and Eren briefly wondered what Levi had been up to while he was with Armin, but decided not to press the issue. 

 

Levi was still dressed, almost out the door on his way to speak with the tailors.  Eren had mistakenly thought it would be a good idea to tag along, eager to spend more time with Levi now that Armin was asleep.  He left Jean standing guard outside his door just in case, even if he didn’t really think there was any chance of Armin stirring before morning.  

 

Now Eren was regretting his decision, ignored in the corner like he didn’t exist at all, the flickering lantern light making his eyes burn.

 

Levi spoke with unexpected familiarity about fabrics and cuts and styles, which colors would suit Armin, what shoes and boots he might need.  Training gear, formal attire, casual wear.  Jackets, scarves, gloves.  The older of the two tailors asked about hats, and Levi waved him away dismissively as he produced a sheet of parchment with numbers scratched onto it.

 

“His hair is too pretty to hide with a hat.  No, I think the things we discussed will be quite enough.  Start with the more practical things, and work your way up to the formal wear.  If he needs to attend anything other than casual meals with the king and queen he has robes that will suffice.”  The tailor nodded, tucking away little squares of fabric back into a box, rolling up the notes they’d made.

 

“I have your numbers here, but I’d rather let my assistant take his measurements himself.  He can come by any time.  Just to be safe, if it please you, Sir Ackerman.”  Eren looked to Levi, waiting on a nod, but Levi shook his head emphatically instead.

 

“No.”  The tailor was surprised too, frowning at Levi, brow furrowed in confusion.

 

“N… No?”  Levi handed over the parchment with Armin’s measurements on it, expression brooking no argument.

 

“No, it doesn’t please me.  I know how to measure someone to be fitted for clothing.  The numbers are correct, I assure you.”  The tailor seemed baffled, unsure how to respond to a blatant refusal from someone.

 

“Still, we always handle it ourselves, I don’t see why-”

 

Levi interrupted, eyes sharp and bright with emotion, voice laced with command.

 

“Your assistant is an Alpha, and I’ve seen the way he measures people.  I won’t have his hands wandering around on the Prince Consort, as they are wont to do.  You’ll take the numbers I’ve given you, and you won’t get anywhere near His Highness without my supervision, or that of the Crown Prince.  Do I make myself clear?”  

 

The tailor balked, pale and wide eyed, glancing to Eren as if for help.  It always made him irrationally angry when people didn’t respect Levi’s authority as they should.  Such an order coming from Erwin or Jean, and it would have been yielded immediately.  He felt his own eyes flaring to life, the words of the Blade Oath coming easily to his lips.

 

“His word is my will, his steel is my sword, his fist is my fury.”  Then he smirked, voice saccharine and sarcastic.  “If it please you, my lord.”

 

The tailor could tell when he was being threatened, even if it wasn’t in quite so many words.  He bowed low, muttering out apologies as Levi and Eren took their leave,  _ forgive me my Lord, your Majesty, I meant no disrespect… _

 

Levi scoffed as they walked down the hall, the tailor’s words fading out into nothing.  They moved together, shoes clicking loud over the stone, the noise echoing around them.

 

“Levi, did the tailor’s assistant  _ grope  _ you at some point?  What were you on about in there?”

 

It wasn’t that he doubted Levi’s judgement of someone’s character, it was certainly more accurate than his own.  The way people acted in front of Eren was not generally a good benchmark by which to determine if they could be trusted.  Everyone was careful in front of him, dutiful and cautious and respectful to a fault.  Even so, he couldn’t imagine someone getting handsy with Levi and still  _ having hands  _ afterwards.  Levi huffed out a sigh, shrugging.

 

“No, but I’ve seen him measure a couple of the servants when his masters weren’t around.  He’s too familiar.  He made them uncomfortable, and I didn’t like it.”  Eren frowned again, puzzled.

 

“And you didn’t say anything?  To me, to anyone?”  Levi being silent in the face of such a thing was out of character, to say the least.

 

“I punched him in the mouth and told him to keep his hands to himself.  The girls in the kitchen thanked me later, but just because he’s behaving himself now doesn’t mean I want him anywhere near Armin.”

 

There was an unmistakable edge in Levi’s voice, his eyes flashing with emotion again, and Eren couldn’t hide the smile that crept over his lips.  

 

“Getting all protective, are we?”  Levi shot him a glare before turning his eyes resolutely ahead, chin high, looking more imperious than Eren ever had.

 

“It’s my job to be protective.”  

 

They arrived back at their room, Jean sent away from his post with a quick nod before they disappeared inside.  Eren threw himself on the bed, kicking off his boots carelessly and shucking his jacket.  It landed on the floor in a heap, and Levi sighed, shaking his head.

 

“I’m going to see the swordsmith tomorrow after lunch,” Levi said as he set his own boots neatly in the wardrobe and hung his jacket above them.  Eren cocked his head, sliding his belt out of his pants and adding it to his pile of discarded clothing.

 

“Surely your blades don’t need attention.  It’s not as though they’ve seen any use recently.”  

 

The swordsmith that served the Jaegers didn’t produce shoddy weaponry, but the steel given to any First Blade would be even more carefully produced, following the meticulous traditions and exacting standards that had been expected for countless generations.  A sword made to protect the king and his family had to be perfect, without weakness, without flaw.  Matching the person who wielded it, or so the logic went.  

 

Unless it had been used heavily in a serious fight, no weapon of a First Blade would need anything more than cursory maintenance.  Levi had his traditional pair of swords, along with a handful of daggers he wore in his jacket and belt, and a longer knife he kept sheathed inside of his boot.

 

And then there was the set of identical weapons in the bottom of the wardrobe.  As though he might somehow lose every single knife he carried, all at once, and have to replace them.

 

Levi had enough steel to last him until the stars fell.  He certainly didn’t need to see the swordsmith for another blade.

 

“I’m having a set of weapons made for Armin.  A light sword, a long knife, a dagger.  A dedicated training weapon for him to use, the hilts of all the training weapons in the barracks are ragged and he needs one of his own to practice with.”

 

Eren stared in silence for a long, long time, until Levi began to flush under the weight of it.

 

“What?”

 

Eren smiled, something slow and wry and fond, laying back on the pillows with an arm thrown over his head.

 

“You’re having clothes made for him.”  

 

Levi gestured vaguely towards Armin’s chambers without meeting Eren’s eyes, cleaning up Eren’s clothes off the floor instead.

 

“All he has are robes, it’s ridiculous that royal consorts are expected to never put on a pair of pants.  If the Princess can wear her battle uniform to state dinners, your Omega can put on a fucking jacket.”

 

Eren hummed, amused, letting his knees fall wide as he nestled deeper into his pillows and blankets.

 

“Mmmmm.  You’re having weapons made for him, including a training weapon, which means you intend for him to learn how to use them.  And considering you wouldn’t allow the tailor’s assistant to even measure him for clothes, I’m doubting you’re going to toss him to the blade master for training.  Which means you intend on teaching him yourself.”

 

Levi was still focused on his duties, tossing pajamas at Eren and picking up the room with practiced familiarity.

 

“Even your mother knows how to use a knife.  He needs to be able to defend himself, especially with all the trouble the Reiss Empire has been stirring up along the borders.  And who would you have training him, if not me?”

 

Eren made no move to change clothes, toying with the fabric of his sleepwear, following Levi lazily with his eyes.  Smirking.

 

It was a rare thing for Levi to be so transparent, so oblivious to his own behavior, and Eren was enjoying it more than he expected.

 

“I wouldn’t have thought to train him at all.  Not so quickly, anyway.  And you can’t go to the forge in the morning, because…”  Eren trailed off deliberately, and Levi answered without thinking, a little bit of annoyance creeping into his tone.

 

“Because I want him to see the library after breakfast, since we didn’t get that far while we were showing him around today.  I told you this already, before we left for the tailors, I-”

 

Levi finally turned around to catch Eren’s shameless grin.  Eren burst out laughing, head thrown back on his pillows, louder than he probably should have considering Armin was asleep in the next room.

 

“One day.  One day, and he’s already got you in the palm of his hand without trying.  Clothes and weapons and training.  And the library, because of course he needs books, too, and I heard you talking to the chef about those little fruit pastries she makes sometimes.  You told him you’d teach him to play chess.  You HATE playing chess.  Sisters, should I be worried?  Are you going to throw him over your shoulder and elope into the night together?  One mate, then two, and now I’ll have none at all.  It’s oddly fitting, don’t you think?”

 

He was only half teasing.  It was Eren who’d been shoving the two of them at each other all day, but he wasn’t used to Levi’s focus being so wholly directed elsewhere.  Eren was used to Levi’s gaze on him, his constant, quiet attention.

 

Levi’s eyes narrowed then, and he dropped the blanket he’d been folding onto the floor and prowled up the bed, stopping when he was hovering just above Eren.  Their hips pressed together, and he ground into Eren, eyes locked together.  Levi supported himself with one hand flat against the mattress, and he reached out to hold Eren’s jaw with the other, fighting a grin off his face.

 

“You… are  _ jealous.”   _

 

Which was true, but also ridiculous and stupid all things considered.  He  _ wanted  _ Levi to pay attention to Armin, had encouraged it and enabled it repeatedly since that morning.

 

Just because it was true didn’t mean Eren was going to admit to it so easily.

 

“I absolutely am not.”

 

Levi forced his chin higher, tilting Eren’s jaw to the side to expose his mate mark and the bites and bruises around it.  Eren felt his breath coming faster, cheeks flushing under Levi’s gaze, expression both amused and somehow omniscient.

 

“You absolutely  _ are,  _ you spoiled little  _ shit.”   _ Levi’s tone was loving in spite of his words, and Eren bit back a whimper as his smirk shifted into something predatory.  “You made a lithe, beautiful Omega your mate last night, and after that you came in here, and I fucked you into mattress.  Twice more today you took Armin, and now you’re crawling in bed with me.  Pretty young lord.  Lounging in his pillows, has everything he could ever want, getting jealous over the attention I’m giving Armin when you spent the whole day shoving him at me.” 

 

Levi kissed his jaw, mouthing his way down Eren’s throat until he got to his mate mark and kissed it, slow and worshipful, before whispering in his ear.  Every word dripping with sarcasm, but without the edge Eren knew Levi could put in his voice when he tried. 

 

“Poor little prince has to share his mate, it must be so difficult, I can’t  _ imagine.”   _

 

Eren swallowed around air as Levi palmed his cock through his clothes, taking a rough handful of him.  Groping at him, feeling out the edges of Eren’s arousal, mouth licking wet at his throat.  Levi tightened his grip, and Eren hissed, rutting up into his touch and struggling to form words.

 

“I’m not…  It’s, it’s not-  like that, I-”

 

Levi sank his teeth into Eren’s shoulder, just hard enough to make him forget how to speak entirely.  He tugged the button of Eren’s pants open, and it was usually around this time that Eren started making him work for it.  Rolling them until he put Levi on his back, too much teeth in his kisses, both of them growling.  But Eren could still smell Armin on his clothes, on his hands, on his skin.  Could still picture him in his mind, all perfect submission and eager obedience.  Not that Eren ordered him around on purpose, but Armin listened to things Eren didn’t realize he was saying.  With the glow in his eyes, the sting of his teeth, the rough grip of his hands.  

 

Before Eren realized he wanted something, Armin was already giving it to him.

 

Eren wanted to give that to Levi, too.  He went lax underneath him, hands slipping under Levi’s shirt to clutch at him but body loose and pliant.  Levi kissed back up his throat, over his jaw, and whispered in his ear again.

 

“Hands and knees, your Highness.”  

 

Then Levi was gone, backing off to give him room to turn, their bedside drawer rattling in a way that told Eren he was getting out the oil they kept there.  He obeyed Levi without hesitation, flipping over until his hips were in the air, his upper body propped up on his elbows as he looked at Levi over his shoulder.  Eren threw a wary glance at the door to Armin’s chambers, briefly worried about being discovered.

 

But Armin had been sleeping incredibly hard when he left earlier, and even if he woke up, Eren doubted he’d be brave enough to leave his bedroom.  

 

Armin acted like everything in the palace had edges that might cut him if he moved too carelessly, and while Eren wanted to break him of such unnecessary caution, he could take advantage of it while it lasted.

 

Levi laid himself over Eren, jerking Eren’s pants halfway down his thighs before splaying one hand over the small of his back.  He slid it forward across his spine, rucking Eren’s shirt up, his other hand slipping lower, slick with oil and rubbing circles against him.  Sharp nails raked down Eren’s back, adding the marks Armin had left.

 

Another set of stripes to wear, and Eren moaned, head falling down onto the pillows.  He rocked back into Levi’s hand as he worked him open.  They had been together long enough that Levi knew better than to take things slow.  He scissored his fingers, pressing down in just the right place, rubbing vicious circles within him.   Eren was already panting for breath, trying to beg, mouth fumbling the words.

 

“Levi… Levi, I need, I-”  Levi kissed over his spine, soft and sweet, a stark contrast to the harsh pace he set with his touch.

 

“Shhh, I know.  I know.  Try and keep quiet, love.  I’ve got you.”

 

Levi fucked into him harder, forcing his fingers impossibly deeper, until Eren was groaning, elbows sliding out from underneath him to leave him gasping.  It felt like an eternity before Levi finally slicked up his cock and pressed into him, still dressed as he shoved Eren’s face into the pillows and took him hard.  Eren’s shirt was bunched up at his shoulders, pants still stretched taut around his thighs, arousal wet and untouched as he ground into the blankets beneath him.

 

Levi took him apart, and put him back together, until Eren was nothing but sensation.

 

When Levi came Eren shoved back onto his knot, dazed with the stretch of it, his own seed messy underneath him.  His eyes flitted around the room, mindless and unseeing, taking in their room.  The wardrobe, the incense burner, the candles, Armin’s chambers.

 

It was only later as he was falling asleep, the darkness too heavy to shake, that he realized the door to Armin’s room had been cracked open.  A sliver of black, yawning wider as Levi swelled within him.  Impossible.

 

Undeniable.

 

He closed his eyes, unable to cling to the brief wash of panic that ran through him, everything hazy and dreamlike.

 

The next day when when Eren woke up, the door was closed.

  
  
  
  



	10. Counterfeit

The room was dark when Armin stirred, drowsy and disoriented, unsure what had woken him.  Everything was silent, and still, the hush of evening heavy in the air.  Even the soft noise of Armin’s breathing seem loud in the blackness of his quarters, breaking through the quiet in a way that seemed irreverent, somehow.  

 

Armin’s body was sore in all the right places, and he stretched, arching his back, toes curling.  The blankets he’d been tucked into were tangled around his feet, and Armin pulled them up to his face, nosing into the fur.  Eren’s scent was there, and Armin breathed in deep, instantly melting further into the bed.  Soothed by it, instincts telling him he was safe.

 

Armin wished he could go back in time and tell himself not to worry so much, that his fear was unfounded.  

 

That his Alpha would be gentle, and beautiful, and kind.

 

That he would feel precious in his arms.

 

He hadn’t been asleep long judging from the exhaustion clinging to him, and the lack of light shining through the curtains.  His hair was still damp from the bath he’d taken before going to sleep, and Armin rolled over in bed, eyelids heavy and threatening to close again.  

 

Except there was something restless in him, too, something warm and twisting and hungry.    Armin slid his hand down his body, over his chest and stomach to palm himself.  He was hard, which wasn’t all that unusual considering he’d been sleeping.

 

The needy sound he made when his hand closed around his cock was unusual, as was the slick welling between his thighs, the vicious want flowing through him.  His cheeks felt flushed, his lips throbbing.  Almost like he was in heat, but not as powerful, with different undertones.  The need felt foreign, even as it was filling him up, and making him ache.  Like it was coming from someone else.

 

Like it was coming from Eren, he realized, and sat up in bed.  

 

He moved without thinking, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and snagging a clean robe from the nearby hook.  Levi had hung several of his more casual robes there, all of them worn soft and well loved, obviously his favorites.  Armin stood and put his arms through the sleeves, wrapping it around himself without bothering to tie the sash, bare feet sinking into the thick rugs as he padded to the door of his chambers.  Then he hesitated, one hand on the knob, the other holding his robe closed.  It was hard to think with lust filling up his lungs, itching in his palms, pooling in his mouth.

 

Was he allowed to enter Eren’s room uninvited this way?  Or would he be expected to stay in his quarters at night unless he was summoned?  Were royal consorts allowed to roam the palace as they pleased?

 

Another spike of desire pulsed low in his belly, and Armin bit back a whining sound, and steadied his breathing.

 

Surely his presence wouldn’t be unwelcome, not when Eren’s need was strong enough to leak through their fledgeling bond this way.  

 

Armin turned the knob carefully, quietly, in case Eren was sleeping, and all the secondhand hunger he was feeling was the result of an especially vivid dream.  He pulled the heavy door open just a crack, ready to withdraw if the room was dark, only to blink at the sudden brightness. 

 

Then his eyes adjusted, and Armin couldn’t breathe.  Couldn’t think, couldn’t move.

 

All he could do was stare.  

 

Eren was on his hands and knees, Levi tucked in tight behind him.  One palm was splayed out over his spine, shoving his rumpled shirt higher and higher, nails digging in hard enough to leave red streaks in their wake.  No space between them, and Levi fucked into him hard, Eren jerking forward with every thrust, gasping.

 

His first thought was that he was dreaming, something heated and self indulgent conjured from his subconscious desires.  But his chest hurt, suddenly, and Armin couldn’t remember dreams feeling like this, like he was falling and drowning and dizzy all at once. 

 

His second thought, absurd even as it came to mind, was that Eren was being taken against his will.  He was an Alpha, and the Prince.  The idea that he’d let himself be had in such a way, and by someone of Levi’s station, was so alien that Armin couldn’t wrap his mind around it at first.  

 

Like watching rain fall in reverse, or seeing the sun rise in the west.

 

The notion came and went in the space of a heartbeat, the truth before his eyes impossible to ignore.  Eren’s spine arched, and he rocked back into Levi, submission written into every inch of him.  The sounds he made were high and whimpering, and he reached back blindly and pawed for Levi’s free hand.  Their fingers intertwined automatically, pieces made to fit together, a key sliding home.

 

Something familiar, done a thousand times before, easy and unthinking.

 

Armin felt something sharp and unmerciful in him, twisting and rusted, cutting him open.  He wasn’t sure why it ached the way it did.

 

He’d been fully prepared to be one Omega among many, to watch as whatever Alpha chose him took other mates to their bed, or to meals, or state affairs.  Jealousy was a luxury, one a royal consort couldn’t afford.  Their duty was to serve, and all his life he’d been made ready to do so with a smile.  It shouldn’t make a difference that Eren had an Alpha in his bed, and not an Omega, even if such a thing was unheard of in polite society.  Scandalous, certainly, but not something that should make Armin feel sick to his stomach, like he’d taken a knife there, the blade sunk in deep.

 

_ They don’t trust you. _

 

The steel in him turned, pain flaring up brighter, the sense of betrayal so strong he could taste it.  Then there was blood in his mouth, coppery and thick, and Armin realized he’d been biting his lip so hard his teeth had broken through the flesh.  

 

He couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t make himself close to door and retreat back to the safety of his blankets.  Couldn’t retreat back into ignorance, Eren’s scent still calling to him despite what he had seen, still promising comfort.

 

Eren was beautiful like that, flushed and shivering underneath Levi, hair wild around his face.  Whining, and clinging, breathtaking in disarray.  Nothing like when they were together.  It wasn’t better, or worse, but the difference stark enough to leave him reeling.

 

Armin let his gaze shift over to Levi, eyes gold bright and possessive.  Watched as he leaned down and pressed gentle, adoring kisses on Eren’s back.  Watched as he laid his face against Eren’s skin, lids falling closed, mouth open as he breathed in deep.  Watched Levi hold his hand and shudder all over.

 

Gods, Levi  _ loved  _ Eren.  More than Armin had thought it was possible to love someone, the emotion etched in every part of him, vivid and unmistakable.  Their time together replayed in his mind, and Armin wondered how he’d missed something so blatant as the way Levi worshipped him.

 

_ ‘You smell like Levi.’ _

 

_ ‘You smell divine.’ _

 

Levi turned his head then, arching his neck, and Armin lost his breath again.

 

A mate mark on Levi’s throat.  Faded, just like Armin’s own.  

 

Unfinished, circled by a vicious bite mark, the skin around it bruise violet.

 

Just like Armin’s own, and his fingers were on it, pressing into the wound.

 

The feeling of betrayal eased back into confusion, into disbelief, because he didn’t understand  _ how. _

 

How could Levi love Eren so fiercely, and still smile at Armin?  Hold his hand, fuss over his clothes?  Why didn’t Levi hate him?  Armin could be with Eren openly where he could not.  It had to sting, watching them together, in front of the royal household, out for everyone to see.  And how could Eren lay with Armin, kiss him so desperately, look at him as though he was something priceless, when he already had someone like Levi?  

 

Why was Armin there at all?

 

He’d barely asked himself the question, and the answer was staring him in the face.  The mark on Levi’s throat, as there surely would have been on Eren’s before they mated, had he bothered to look the night he arrived.  It was why Eren wanted to bond him so quickly.  Armin was a cover story, insurance, a smoke screen.

 

Armin was a mask for Eren to wear, to hide all that love in his eyes.  

 

Except Eren couldn’t fake the feelings that had poured through the bond when they were together, couldn’t counterfeit emotions like that.  He wanted Armin, in more than a strictly carnal sense.  There was affection in the soft brush of his hands over Armin’s lips, in the fond light in his eyes, in the gentle kisses laid on his cheeks.

 

It wasn’t like the fire that clearly burned in him for Levi, but a spark was there, smoldering.  The seeds of a flame that could be set alight, if only it was stoked enough.  Cared for, and protected, and coaxed to life.

 

And Eren wasn’t subtle.   He’d left Armin with Levi every chance he’d gotten that day, the two of them alone together in Armin’s chambers more than once.  Levi, helping him dress, doing his hair.  

 

Hands brushing over his scent glands, touching his mate mark.

 

Fingers tangling with Armin’s under the dining room table, just as they tangled with Eren’s now in the prince’s bed.  Eren had been there each time, smiling slyly, like he’d won something.  An image rose up in Armin’s mind unbidden at the memory.  

 

Him, in Eren’s bed instead of his own, the Prince pressed in close in front of him.

 

Levi hugging him from behind, mouthing at his throat.  Hands on him, tugging, twisting.  

 

Putting Armin right where they wanted him, and taking him.  First Eren, and then Levi, until he was bruised and slick and ravaged between them.  Armin bit back a moan, robe falling open as his free hand slipped down between his thighs, palm cupping his arousal.

 

It still hurt, that he couldn’t be trusted with their secrets yet.  Still felt tender, like his mark under his fingers, being used in a way he hadn’t been anticipating.  He didn’t expect the feeling to go away all at once, that soreness in his chest.  The sting left behind by a lie, even one of omission, but he couldn’t necessarily blame him.  They’d only known Armin for a day, and the secrets they kept were enough to undermine the stability of the kingdom as a whole.

 

The Crown Prince, mated to another Alpha.  A soldier, and not even one of noble birth.  A commoner who could not beget an heir, plucked from the capitol’s seedy underbelly by Levi’s own admission  The strikes against him were myriad when viewed through the warped lens of the court.  Given time, though, maybe they could trust Armin with the truth.

 

If they were honest with him, Armin could move past the scar that was forming in his chest, aching with every beat of his heart.  They were protecting themselves the only way they knew how, and he couldn’t begrudge them that, not living under the watchful eye of the entire kingdom.

 

It wasn’t hard to tuck the pain away right then, down inside where he’d kept the loneliness that had plagued him his entire life.  He had a lot of practice ignoring things that hurt him.

 

Armin had been living life in agony for years and years.  So it wasn’t hard, hiding this lesser torment under his skin, nothing compared to what he’d already endured.

 

It was the easiest thing in the world, because he could still feel Eren’s lust pouring into him through their bond, a tide rolling up higher and higher.  Armin palmed his cock as their movements grew more frantic, stroking fast, swallowing down the sob of relief that threatened to erupt at the touch.  His other hand moved behind him of its own volition, and Armin pressed two fingers into himself, leaning into the door frame to support his weight.

 

Slick dripped down his knuckles, and Armin bit down into his lip again to keep himself quiet, ignoring the white hot flare of pain.  His breathing came fast, ragged and laced with a whine.  Levi called Eren’s name again and again, and Eren begged in response, not asking for anything in particular.

 

_ Please, please, please,  _ and Armin echoed him in his mind, wrist flying, hoping the wet sounds of his slick were only loud in his own ears.

 

Then Eren shoved back onto Levi’s knot, and Armin came with him, ears ringing as he fought to stay upright.

 

He blinked blearily at them, watching Levi carefully arrange them in bed to avoid pulling on his knot, keeping them pressed tightly together.  Levi nosed into Eren’s shoulders, whispering something soft.  It was only in the face of their quiet intimacy that Armin finally felt like an intruder, and he closed to door, and crept back to bed.

 

It hurt.

 

It hurt, but knowledge was power, and Armin had always been powerless.  Now he had two Alphas who seemed more than eager to fall all over themselves for him, in spite of all they were to each other.

 

It hurt, but Armin smiled a little in the dark, and tucked the furs up against his face.  Breathed Eren in.

 

Still felt safe, two Alphas standing between him and the rest of the world, and Armin closed his eyes.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Whet

The inside of the palace was lavish and extravagant, but Levi hadn’t been particularly impressed with it all those years ago.  When he’d first been dragged there he remembered thinking it was too much space for one family to call their own, even kings and queens.  That it would be a lot of effort to keep clean, high ceilings and intricate gilding and fine tile work.  Too many windows collecting fingerprints, draped with too many curtains collecting dust.  

 

It was exhausting to think about, and Levi hadn’t awed by any of it.

 

Not until he reached the armory, the castle’s primary forge right next to it, the sounds of the swordsmiths’ hammers ringing in his ears.  

 

He’d never seen so many blades in his life, viciously sharp and shining in the light, reflecting the starry eyed look on his face.  The standard swords given to royal guards were stacked up in one rack, finer steel for officers in another.  Daggers, knives weighted for throwing, or made to be concealed.  Warhammers, and axes, and baskets full of arrowheads.  More intricate weapons sat on display here and there, jewels inlaid in handles of pearl and ivory and bone.  Pieces obviously made with nobles or the royal family themselves in mind.  Gifts for high lords and ladies, their children, their guards.

 

Levi knew what knives and swords from the royal bladesmith went for on the black market, rare though they were.  Could pick out a forgery based on the marks printed in the steel, the craftsmanship, the detail work.  

 

Seeing it in person had left him awestruck, a little bit breathless.  

 

Reverent the way people usually were in holy places.  In temples, and churches, and shrines.

 

In the presence of something bigger than themselves, more powerful, stealing the words from their mouths and the air from their lungs until all they could do was stare, grateful to exist alongside it in silence.

 

It was the same look Armin wore right then, jaw slack and eyes wide, just inside the library door.

 

Like he’d been shown something sacred, and couldn’t quite believe it was real.  

 

Bookshelves stretched far above their heads, the high ceiling looming over them, painted with images of clouds and sunlight.  The library itself was long and rectangular, two stories tall, open in the middle with shelves along the walls.  Spiral staircases wound circular in each corner leading to the second floor, where there was only enough floorspace to walk in front of the books, and a narrow pathway spanning the center.  Rolling ladders sat in front of each row of shelves on the first floor, and there were circular tables in the middle of the room, chairs shoved neatly underneath.  There were also a half dozen couches scattered throughout the library, lamps lit on tables next to them, alongside small statues, or globes.  Vases full of flowers.  Inkwells, and paper, and quills.  

 

It was deserted other than the pair of workers assigned there.  An older woman dusted shelves, while a younger man swept the floors, both oblivious to their presence.  The library was technically for the use of the royal family and any visiting nobility or ambassadors, but in practice anyone living in the palace was permitted to take books as long as they were returned in good condition.  Still, it was never exactly a hotbed of activity, considering most people elected to read or study in the privacy of their quarters, or one of the lounges, rather than linger there.

 

Armin stared, one hand fisted in his robes just over his heart, the other clutching blindly at whoever was closest.

 

Which happened to be Levi, their fingers lacing together, and warmth suffused him at the gesture.  Armin had been behaving strangely all morning, shooting them odd looks from time to time and withdrawing into himself more than he had the day before.

 

All that reluctance and uncertainty melted away, at least temporarily, and Levi was grateful for it.  Considering how he’d insisted on retrieving his own book back at the consort house, against the house matron’s wishes no less, Levi has suspected he might enjoy the library, but he’d underestimated the effect it would have on him.

 

“This is…”  Armin started, trailing off when words seemed to fail him.  Levi glanced over at Eren, who was caught up in the wonder on Armin’s face, smiling softly.  Levi squeezed Armin’s fingers, and spoke up.

 

“The royal library.  For the use of visiting nobility, ambassadors, emissaries.  The royal family themselves.”  Levi nudged Armin with his shoulder.  “And their consorts, of course.”  Armin blinked through his daze, looking first at Eren, then at Levi.

 

“I can read these?”  he asked, and Levi shrugged, gesturing towards a rolling cart a few feet away from them.

 

“You have bookshelves in your room, but we didn’t really know what to put on them.  I thought you might want to pick some to read through.  If you like any of them well enough, we’ll get you your own copy.  We didn’t want to guess at your preferences.  Eren’s taste in books is awful-”

 

“Hey, it is not!”  Eren protested, but Levi ignored him, continuing.

 

“-and I don’t read terribly often, myself, anymore, so.  Second floor is mostly nonfiction, histories and alchemical texts.  Geography, biology, animals and plants and what have you.  Biographies, memoirs written by people no one gives a shit about.  First floor is fiction, divided by genre.  Yvette and Isander would be ecstatic to shove all their favorites at you, were you to ask, I’m sure.  They’re ah… enthusiastic, to say the least.”

 

Armin shot a wary glance at the pair of servants before turning back, looking between Eren and Levi with an uncertain smile.

 

“I don’t really ah…  I don’t know what I like?  They uhh… didn’t let me read much, other than what I was assigned for my lessons, and they stop giving trade Omegas lessons once they go through their first heat.”

 

Eren frowned, head cocking to the side, brows furrowed.

 

“Trade Omegas?”  Eren asked, and Armin seemed confused by the question for a moment before answering, like he was explaining something that should be obvious.

 

“Trade Omegas?  Ah, consorts, both Untouched and otherwise, acquired through a consort house or dealer.  Brothel workers, escorts.  Any Omega who is bought, sold, or utilized in the trade.”

 

Eren didn’t need any clarification for what exactly they were trading in, but his frown deepened, and he held up a hand.

 

“Wait, wait.  You’re telling me that as soon as an Omega goes into heat, they stop teaching them?”

 

Levi opened his mouth to speak, but Armin beat him to it, voice sardonic and wry.

 

“Oh, they keep teaching us, but the subject matter is abruptly very different once we’re actively heating.”

 

The expression on Eren’s face was something between shock and disgust, and his eyes lit up gold, fury slipping through their bond until Levi could almost taste it.

 

“Because they think that’s all you’re good for, is that it?”

 

Armin shrugged, not even looking at Eren anymore but letting his eyes rove over the shelves, obviously more worried about getting his hands on some books than any perceived slight against those of his dynamic or station.  It was clear he wasn’t catching any of Eren feelings through the bond right then, totally oblivious to the storm brewing within his mate.  He’d gone his whole life listening to people spout stereotypes and prejudices against Omegas, especially those raised in a consort house, or working for a brothel, and the mistreatment of trade Omegas wasn’t anything new to him.

 

“An Omega who can heat is an Omega who can make money.  Wasting valuable teaching time on history and language and alchemy is a misallocation of resources, from their point of view.  People don’t tend to lay out coin for an Omega because they’re well educated.”

 

Eren’s eyes lit up brighter, and Levi reached over to put a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention.

 

“You cannot tell me you didn’t know this, Eren, with all the sanctions that have been brought down on consort houses and Omega traders in the last three years.  Your father has been-”

 

Eren cut him off, a bit sharper than necessary, anger making his voice rough.

 

“Has been dragging me to war councils, and drilling me on border aggressions, and taking me to trade negotiations with ambassadors from Sona and discussing troop movements within the Reiss empire.  Mikasa is the one who gets briefed on taxes and policy changes and internal affairs within the kingdom.  She’s the one leading the Jaegers’ on raids to hunt down traffickers and break up slave rings.  I knew Omega rights were nowhere near perfect, and that father is trying to take things slowly enough that enforcement of all the new laws is possible, but I didn’t realize consort houses stopped teaching their wards history at fifteen so they could better learn how to  _ fuck.” _

 

His volume had increased gradually, until he was just shy of shouting when he finished, hands gesturing wildly.  The yellow glow of his eyes was bright even with the sun shining through the upper windows of the library.  Armin clutched tighter at Levi’s hand, reaching out towards Eren with the other, fingers flitting nervously in the air.

 

If he hadn’t been sensing Eren’s emotions before, he certainly was now.

 

“Eren, it’s fine, it’s-”  Eren interrupted, too loud, too agitated.

 

“It’s  _ not  _ fine.”

 

Armin winced at his tone, and Eren sighed heavily, stepping into his space and tugging Armin into a hug, face shoved into his hair.  He pressed a kiss there, rubbing soothing hands up and down his back, eyes still lit up with unhappiness.

 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to shout at you.  But it’s definitely not  _ fine.”   _ When he pulled back his eyes were almost normal, barely thrumming with light, and he reached up to press a thumb into Armin’s mate mark.  “I need to go talk to my father.  I’ll leave you here with Levi to pick out some books, and come find you when I’m done, if that’s all right with you.”

 

Armin untangled his fingers from Levi’s to cover Eren’s hand on his throat with his own, squeezing lightly.

 

“It’s okay.”  

 

Eren leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, chaste and soft and intimate enough that Levi felt like he was intruding just watching them.  He held Armin’s gaze for a moment, rubbing circles over his mate mark before giving Levi a look he couldn’t entirely interpret.  Then Eren was gone in a rush, the click of his boots on the stone fading out as he stormed down the hall.  Armin and Levi both stared at the door he’d fled through, Levi shaking his head, Armin’s brows wrinkled.

 

“Is he really going to go to the king right this instant to complain about trade Omegas and their education?”  Armin asked, and Levi laughed before he could stop himself.

 

“Yes, without a doubt,” Levi answered, eyes roving over the shelves as he took hold of the rolling cart beside them.  He wheeled it forward, heading towards the fantasy section of the library, full of stories of dragons and demons and the supernatural.

 

Someone like Armin, cooped up in a consort house his whole life and now closed off in a palace, could probably use some escapism.

 

Armin looked nervous as he followed, biting his lip, and Levi had to fight the urge to reach out and coax it gently from his teeth.

 

“Will the king be upset?  I don’t want him to think I’m… I don’t know, whispering in Eren’s ear already, trying to make him do things he doesn’t want,” Armin said, and Levi snorted.

 

“You can’t make Eren do anything he doesn’t want, and Eren’s father knows that.  The king has been arguing with nobles about Omega rights for years.  When Eren told his parents he was bringing in an Untouched for a consort, I am sure Grisha expected this.  Eren’s righteous fury.”  Levi stopped next to a row of books, reading through the titles, searching for those he remembered enjoying.  

 

“When I first started serving as his Blade, dealing with it was exhausting.  He’d get up in arms so easily when he learned about injustices he’d been ignorant of, and coming from a place of such privilege, he’s…  It’s not stupidity, but naivete.  It’s not his fault he was born into the life he has, in spite of how it felt back then.  Sisters, I  _ hated  _ him.”  Levi laughed, and it was fond enough that he could hear the adoration in it, could feel Armin watching him with calculating eyes.  He pushed on anyway, lost in his memories, fingers brushing absently down the line of leather backed volumes in front of him.

 

“Anyway, Mikasa told me a story once, early in my service, about when he was little.  The king was having a dispute with the Reiss Empire, as he often is, and he was telling Eren what was going on in simplified terms.  After listening to it all, Eren asks, ‘Why don’t you just go and fight him?’  The king had to explain that it wasn’t that simple, and Eren couldn’t understand why.  Someone is being unfair, so you go and fight them, and you win, and the problem is solved.  Now he’s older, and he understands the nuances of things, but it hasn’t changed the way he feels.  

 

“Eren’s first instinct is still always aggression.  To fight whatever problem comes his way, immediately, by any means necessary.  He’s not patient, and he doesn’t know how to let things lie.  It used to drive me insane, but it’s one of the things I grew to-”  Levi stopped abruptly, biting down on the words that he’d been ready to speak, swallowing heavily.

 

_ One of the things I grew to love about him. _

 

Armin was still watching, and Levi felt like a mouse being studied by a hawk.  Picked apart by something keen and predatory.

 

Something  _ patient. _

 

He cleared his throat, grabbing a book off the shelf and looking down at it, instead of at Armin.

 

“To respect, about him.  So yes, he’s definitely going to the king, to berate him about things the king already knows, and likely has a plan to address.  One that will take far too long to implement for Eren’s liking, and they’ll argue, and eventually he’ll coerce the king into swifter, more controversial action, and they’ll both be annoyed with each other for awhile.”  

 

Levi sighed, putting the book in his hands down on the cart, as well as the next few in the series it was from, and turned back towards Armin.  

 

“Books, then, yes?”  Levi said, eager to change the subject to something less revealing, and even if Armin seemed to know what he was doing, he didn’t object.

 

Over the next hour Levi piled books onto Armin’s cart, different genres and authors and styles.  It took awhile for Armin to really accept that he was allowed to do the same, but eventually he started adding his own choices, even if it was slow going.  He’d open a book, and let his fingertips linger on the words, paging reverently through them before putting it with the others.  Ran his thumbs over the spines, carefully, like he was afraid of damaging them.

 

Once the top rows of the cart were full, more than enough to occupy the shelves in his quarters, Armin started lingering near Levi instead of browsing as he had been.  A glance around revealed that Isander was throwing looks their way, eying Armin with interest.  Levi recognized it for what it was, a bored librarian desperate for someone to talk about books with, but it probably came across much differently to someone with Armin’s background.  He grinned, leaning down to whisper conspiratorially in Armin’s ear, voice low enough that only he could hear.

 

“He just wants to ask what you like to read.  He’s not going to eat you.”

 

Armin flushed bright, throwing the book in his hand onto the cart without looking at it, hand fisting nervously in his robes.

 

“I’ve hardly read anything, I wouldn’t know what to  _ say,”  _ he hissed back, stepping even further into Levi’s space, so close they were pressed together in front of the shelves.

 

Levi breathed in, and Armin’s scent filled his nose.  Soft, and clean, hints of the ocean in it.  Salt, maybe.  Blue skies and hot sand and cool waves.  He reached around Armin, letting his hand rest on a book on the other side of him, caging him in protectively.  The Alpha in him hummed contentedly as he nosed into Armin’s hair.  Impulsive.  Thoughtless.

 

Reckless, but Levi couldn’t stop himself, body moving on muscle memory it didn’t have, instincts telling him everything was all right.

 

That Armin was his to look after when Eren was gone.  His to take care of, to watch over.

 

His to touch, and taste.

 

“Next time, then?  When you’ve read some of these?”  The words came out rougher than Levi would have liked, and Armin shivered.

 

He leaned into Levi, eyes falling closed as he took a deep breath, steadying himself on the cart beside him.

 

“Next time,” he agreed, and neither of them moved for a long, long while.

 

They returned to Armin’s quarters and lined the books up on the shelves beside his bed.  When they were done Armin stared for a bit before reaching into the drawer on his nightstand.  He pulled out the book he’d brought from the consort house, a tattered worn thing that looked ready to fall apart, and tucked it in line next to the others.  Armin’s breathing went a little ragged, and when he looked to Levi his eyes were shining, emotion Levi couldn’t name playing out in them, something intricate he couldn’t unravel.

 

“Can I read some before lunch?”  Armin asked, and Levi shrugged.

 

“You can read whenever you please.  I can leave, if you like.  Give you some privacy.”

 

Armin eased a book out and crawled into bed, robes coming loose and falling off one shoulder.  He leaned back a bit, settling into the pillows before reaching up and tugging out the stick holding his hair in place.  It tumbled down around his face, messy golden tangles, drawing Levi’s eyes to the line of his throat as he stretched.  The fabric of his robes had caught above his knee, toes curling into the furs underneath him, the barest hint of his thighs visible.  Pale, thicker than Levi would have imagined, more muscular.  Then again it made sense that the Untouched would be forced to keep fit, to better please their future mates.  He swallowed and glanced up, only realizing how bright his eyes were when he found Armin smirking at him.  

 

Caught staring, and Armin opened his book, and looked away.

 

“I’d like you to stay.”

 

Stay, and then it was as though Levi didn’t exist at all, Armin losing himself in the pages of his book.  

 

Levi didn’t mind.

 

Stayed, and stared, and got lost, too.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. On High

He wasn’t ready.

 

Likely because clothes hadn’t ever held any particular appeal for Eren.  He’d always seen a visit to the tailor’s as an irritation first and foremost.  Many hours of his youth had been spent in their workshop, standing still as they measured and fitted and altered, squabbling with one another over every aspect of his wardrobe.  Which colors would be suitable for the season, which were appropriate considering what nobles were visiting, which styles were falling out of fashion in the court, on and on until Eren wanted to bash his head through a window.

 

He’d gained a brief newfound appreciation for the royal officer’s dress uniforms when Levi arrived at the palace, eyes drawn to the sharp lines of the jackets and the tight fabric of the pants and the shiny knee high boots as they’d never been.

 

Then again it didn’t matter what Levi wore, Eren always found himself staring, and he quickly realized it wasn’t the clothes, but the man.  

 

Going into the tailor’s rooms always filled him with knee-jerk annoyance, and it was probably that ingrained weariness with the process as a whole that left him so disarmed.  

 

Sisters and stars _ , _ he wasn’t ready.

 

They’d finished the first additions to Armin’s wardrobe finished astonishingly fast, arriving by way of a seamstress the day after they’d been ordered.  Most likely to placate Levi, the pieces rushed to completion quicker than Eren would have thought possible, all of them fashioned by the Masters’ own hands.  It was evident in the quality of the stitching, in the detail work on the seams, everything meticulously perfect. Eren thought they’d looked fine when the garments were delivered to his quarters, but Levi insisted Armin be fitted properly, as any member of the royal family would.

 

Under his and Eren’s supervision, of course.

 

So the trio headed to the tailor’s workshop, new outfits in tow.  After a few brief words with the tailors Armin vanished into a curtained changing room.  He entered wearing his robes, looking every inch the demure Omega consort, and came out a few minutes later transformed. 

 

Eren’s breath caught in his throat.  His eyes flared, and his scent riled, powerful and possessive.  He’d never felt quite so woefully unprepared for something in his entire life.  

 

He dropped his wine glass.  

 

It hit the floor between his feet, totally unnoticed, liquid soaking quickly into the pristine carpets.  

 

Armin was dressed in the simple garb of a trainee, dark grey instead of the usual lighter color given to new recruits, designating him royalty.  A long sleeved shirt hung from his frame, the fabric loose enough to allow movement but snug enough that it wouldn’t get in the way during sparring.  The pants were the same shade, but tighter, clinging to him everywhere, ending just below the knee. 

 

Tight enough that it was hard for Eren to swallow as the tailor held a jacket up behind Armin, helping him shrug into it, letting him work the three buttons up the front with uncertain fingers.  The tailor already had pins out, marking the sleeves where they needed to be brought in or adjusted, muttering to himself under his breath. He stepped back, apparently satisfied, but awaiting Eren’s approval.  One of his seamstresses stood nearby, noticing the way Armin held himself, as if unsure how to stand.

 

“Do they feel all right?”  she asked, and Armin shrugged one shoulder with an airy laugh.

 

“I don’t really know.  I’ve never worn pants before,”  Armin replied before looking over at Eren, who was still staring openly.  He shifted, self-conscious, obviously not picking up the emotions Eren was leaching into their bond.  Distracted, maybe, or tired, but oblivious to the want Eren was unable to leash within himself. “Is it…  Is it bad?” Armin asked, and Eren hated the worry in the words. “Does it not please you?”

 

Eren wanted to reassure him, he did, but his mouth was dry and his tongue was heavy and his voice had abandoned him entirely.  

 

Armin was beautiful, always.  In the ornate robes he wore to meals, in the simple ones he chose to lounge in before bed, in the silky, slinky pieces he put on just to see how fast Eren would get them off him.  In his robes, or without them entirely, it was like Armin had been made to draw him in. But Eren had grown used to seeing Armin in his robes, inured to the sight of it, however eye-catching it might be.

 

He was devastating in the dark grey of his royal trainee jacket, charcoal pants hugging the swell of his thighs.  The outfit wasn’t complete. There were boots and belts and gloves, a half dozen different accessories that would come later to finish the ensemble, but it didn’t matter.  Even barefoot with sapphires still shimmering in the intricate braids of his hair it was enough to render Eren speechless and overwhelmed. Levi finally spoke up for him, leaning in close to Armin and whispering low enough that Eren barely heard the response.

 

“I think it pleases him too well, Highness.”

 

Armin glanced over to Eren as if seeking confirmation, and Eren couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop himself.  Lust pulsed through the ties between them, surging from himself and into Armin, into Levi. Armin flushed, and then smirked, something preening and pleased and self assured that Eren wasn’t equipped to deal with right then.  Armin was dangerous enough when he’d first arrived; meek and soft and afraid of his shadow, but able to own Eren with a few quiet words and a heated glance. 

 

Standing tall in a prince’s uniform, buttons of his jacket gleaming less brightly than the amusement in his eyes, Eren didn’t stand a fucking chance.

 

“You can keep the jacket to alter, as well as any of the other pieces you need to do additional work on, but we’ll be taking this outfit with us when we go, Master Blake,”  Eren said to the tailor without looking at him, totally unashamed of the lecherous expression he could feel creeping over his face.

 

They spent the next hour there, Armin trying on jackets and vests and dress shirts and pants and letting the tailor mark them.  When they finished Armin stepped out of the changing room, not in his robes, but in his training gear.

 

“I’ll wear it back to my quarters,”  he said, throwing Eren a significant look, “see how well I can move in it.”

 

Eren picked him up the moment they were out the door, hooking his palms around the backs of Armin’s thighs and hoisting him into the air.  Armin’s legs went around his waist, and he laughed, burying his face in Eren’s throat. As though he was embarrassed, but Eren could tell he was playing at it, rather than actually bothered.  Putting on a show for the guards they passed in the halls, the shy new mate of the Prince, flustered under his attentions.

 

Except Eren could feel the want running through him, the unfettered contentment at being so openly desired.  Warmth and need and affection rolled over him from both sides, and Eren looked over his shoulder at Levi, who was following them down the hall.  He kept pace a few steps behind, Armin’s robes in hand, picking up after Eren as he always did.

 

Levi caught Eren’s gaze and held it, eyes alight with gold as he brought Armin’s robes up to his nose and breathed his scent in deep.

 

Eren made a whimpering noise at the same time Armin’s breathing hitched, a desperate, achy sound.  When he glanced down, though, Armin’s face was still hidden, tucked into his throat. Whether he’d seen Levi or not, Eren couldn’t be sure, and it wasn’t as though he could ask.

 

“How will I know how well I can move in my new clothes if you carry me?”  Armin wondered aloud, false innocence dripping in his voice. Eren leaned down and nipped at his throat, fingers digging into the swell of his ass, the guards they passed staring resolutely forward.

 

“I wouldn’t trouble yourself worrying,” Eren answered, and continued down the hall, Armin’s hair soft against his jaw.

 

When they got back to his rooms, Eren carried Armin into his chambers, and pressed him into the wall.  Tugged his pants down to his thighs, rucked up his shirt, and slid into him slow. Tossed him on the bed afterwards, and flipped him on his belly, rumbling out a happy growl when Armin raised his hips up in offering.

 

They fucked all the blankets into the floor, broke a lamp, and ruined at least one of his furs. 

 

It seemed Armin could move in his clothes just fine.

 

-

 

He liked to watch.  Sometimes from the doorway, lingering in the shadows, giving them the illusion of privacy.  Other times he lounged in Armin’s bed, eyes on Levi’s hands, utterly unrepentant as they worked through Armin’s hair.  Brushing, combing, braiding it in ornate patterns. Fastening it with clips, or ties, or jewels.

 

This morning Eren was in his own bed, lying upside down so he could see through Armin’s open door without getting up entirely, head pillowed on his arm.  It was much earlier than they usually woke, and only when he caught sight of Armin in his trainee clothes did he remember why. 

 

His swordplay lessons started that morning.  Levi forbade Eren from attending, insisting he’d be a distraction.  He’d argued the point on principle, but eventually conceded. It was viciously early, after all, and his furs were warm and lush and smelled like Levi.

 

Eren watched through half-lidded eyes, sleep clinging heavily as Levi pulled Armin’s hair back in a plain ponytail, drawing the length up in a tight bun afterwards.  No frills, nothing elaborate.

 

Arresting in its simplicity.  Eren wanted to wait until Armin was breathless and sweaty with his training, and pull it down around his face.  Bury his fingers in it, and tug his head to the side, and-

 

Levi threw him a chastising look, and Eren grinned, but didn’t turn away.

 

Armin surveyed himself critically in the mirror, as though he couldn’t decide if he liked it or not, like it felt strange on his head.

 

“Nothing fancy this morning.  It’d just get in the way. After we train, and you get cleaned up, I’ll redo it into something more ornate, if you like.”  Levi said, apologetic. There was a long pause, Armin reaching up to touch the bun, chin raised high. The line of his jaw looked sharper like that, sitting above the neat lines of his jacket, no billowy robes or loose hair to detract from it.  

 

High cheekbones and plush lips and wide eyes,  _ gods,  _ it was too early for him to look that way.

 

“Do you think I should cut my hair?  Am I allowed?” It didn’t really sound like he expected an answer, talking to himself out loud more than anything else, but Levi responded anyway.

 

Laid his palm across the side of Armin’s neck as he spoke, fingertips on his mate mark, thumb smoothing over his bound hair.

 

“I think,” Levi started, tentative, hesitating, “that your hair is beautiful as it is.  But I also think it would be lovely no matter what length it was, and it is yours to with as you like.  If you want to cut it, or keep it, it’s entirely up to you, and no one will tell you otherwise.”

 

Armin tilted his head to the side, exposing the line of his throat further; a deliberate offering, and Levi’s fingers slid down underneath his collar.  Lingered there for the barest of moments before tracing back up, over Armin’s mark, flitting along his jaw. Stroking his skin, languid and gentle, as an Alpha would their mate.

 

Then he took a deep breath, and stepped away, eyes shining bright behind his closed lids.

 

“We should go,” he said, and it didn’t sound true, but they went all the same.

 

-

 

The balcony was large, and lavish, but empty of people as it had been all week long.  As it always was, maintained but disused, the chairs and benches and tables made to withstand the weather.   Since Eren had been utilizing it fresh furnishings appeared, cushions and pillows and a water basin. A bell, and torches, and a bowl of fruit.  He hadn’t ordered any such thing, or complained, but the servants were nothing if not attentive.

 

There was a reason they’d made their way to the palace, after all.

 

When Eren arrived that morning the sun had risen just high enough in the sky to bathe everything in a soft glow, the world waking up lazy.  Eren sat perched on top of the balustrade, one bare foot dangling over the edge, the other flat on the wide stone. There was nothing of significance on his schedule, not with his father preparing for a visit from several nobles who lived on the outskirts of the kingdom and were expected to arrive shortly.  He wouldn’t be able to formally receive them until at least the next day, after they were settled in and rested.

 

So Eren leaned against a pillar on the balustrade— still in his sleep shirt, the ties unlaced at his throat— biting into an apple and looking down at the training ring below. 

 

It was the sole purpose of the balcony, to allow princes and kings and nobles to observe the trainees and officers without being disruptive.  The watchful gazes of royalty tended to make soldiers twitchy, and many nobles would rather not sully themselves with the dust and grit of the ring.  

 

Usually no one spared the balcony a single glance.  It was always, always empty, their leaders occupied with more important tasks than watching rookie guards fumble their footwork or get tossed around by whatever officer was tasked with educating them on the finer points of hand-to-hand combat.  At this time of day, the ring itself was usually abandoned as well, sitting unused until the guards and servants had finished their morning routines. Breakfast, meetings, reports of nightly activity, or lack thereof. Patrols, checks of the armory, inventories of supplies.  Typically no one would arrive to utilize the eastern training area until close to mid-morning, and even if they had, they wouldn’t bother looking up at the King’s Eye.

 

Except this week, things were different.

 

Two figures stood in the ring, far enough away that Eren could make out what they were doing, but not what they were saying.  Not unless they raised their voices, anyway. Levi and Armin crouched across the ring from each other, the former going through the beginner’s stone katas as the latter followed along haltingly.  Levi shifted from one position to the next with the ease of instincts that were ingrained down to the bone; familiar, easy as breathing, sword glinting in the morning light as it sliced through the air.  

 

It was thoughtless, the way he slid from one pose to another.  Something he could do in his sleep.

 

Armin’s movements as he imitated the forms were stiff and uncertain by comparison, arms wobbling under the weight of the wooden weapon, hands wrapped in fabric to protect his palms.  His footing was shaky, his grip too tight, his elbows wild. Eren wasn’t surprised.

 

It had only been a little over a week, after all.

 

A little over a week of meals with his family, Armin pressed in next to him, slowly opening up to Eren’s mother and father.   Of finding him in the library or his quarters buried in a book, sometimes nodded off with one lying askew on his chest. 

 

A little over a week of days and nights spent split between mates.  Armin was more guarded with his affections at first, but still tugged Eren down into his bed.  Still pulled him in between his thighs, and let then fall wide, touched starved and overeager. It was less frantic, the way they came together now, something gentle and sweet blooming between them.

 

It was less frantic, too, the way he and Levi came together afterwards.  Less like they were trying to erase Armin’s scent, Armin’s teeth, Armin’s touch, and more like they were reveling in it.

 

A little over a week, and Eren already couldn’t imagine a life without Armin in it.  The mere idea made his chest hurt, made his jaw clench, and he shook it away.

 

Eren watched as Levi crossed the ring and stepped behind Armin, pressing in close to guide his weapon hand into the correct position.  He laid a palm on the small of Armin’s back to straighten his posture, nudging his stance wider with one foot, Levi leaning in to speak low in his ear.  It felt voyeuristic, staring as Levi nosed into his hair, as Armin arched into the contact, but Eren couldn’t look away.

 

They would start hand-to-hand training soon, and the physicality of it would be delicious to behold.  Eren gave them a week at most before all this tension between them snapped, and he found them lying together in the dirt of the pit just after sunrise, kissing rough and messy.

 

His train of thought was interrupted by sound of footsteps clicking on tile, louder and louder, followed by a figure appearing in the doorway that led out to the balcony.  It was a young man Eren didn’t recognize, obviously a noble’s son based on his clothes, but no one Eren had met before. One of the country lords’ heirs, doubtlessly, arriving early and wandering the castle as they were wont to do when they visited.  He noticed Eren there and frowned, gesturing to one of the guards nearby, who took a step forward. The noble pointed at Eren, speaking too quietly for him to make out the words, but the guard’s voice carried easily.

 

“That would be his Highness, Prince Eren,” the guard replied with a deep nod before returning to his position beside the door.

 

The noble glanced back up at him, a vague expression of disgust on his face at the state of Eren, wrinkled bed clothes and barefooted, lounging on a balcony.  Eren took another bite of his apple, then waved at him with it, pulling up the smuggest look he could manage. It took a few moments longer than it should have, but the noble remembered himself eventually.  He dropped to one knee, bowing his head and mumbling out a grudging acknowledgment.

 

“Your Highness,” he said, obviously not pleased with having to show deference to someone that appeared at first glance to be a street urchin who’d snuck into the palace, albeit a bit cleaner.  He didn’t fake submission very well, either, eyes out in front of him instead of on the ground, chin tucked into his throat; a subtle refusal to bare it.

 

Eren let him stay down longer than strictly necessary, eating another bite of his apple, chewing it leisurely.  He could spot a worthless, self important noble from a mile away, and this haughty lord’s son certainly fit the bill.

 

“My Lord,” Eren answered eventually, and the noble got to his feet, dusting off his pants and straightening his jacket.

 

As though kneeling had sullied him somehow, and Eren had to fight back a grin.

 

Then he moved forward, headed toward the edge of the balcony as if to see what was going on in the training ring.  Something dark and possessive surged up in him, and Eren heard himself growling before he could bite it back. Felt his irises flash at the thought of this man watching Levi and Armin move together, oblivious to the eyes on them, all tentative intimacy and careful touches.  It wasn’t for this nameless Alpha.

 

It was for him, and him alone.

 

The noble froze at the vicious sound, taking an instinctive step back and eying Eren warily.

 

“Private training session.  You understand, of course,” Eren said, but the noble furrowed his brows instead of retreating further, curiosity burning in his gaze as it flitted out towards the ring briefly before returning to Eren.  He bared his teeth in a snarl, apple falling forgotten to the floor as he hopped off the balustrade and rose to his full height. “Run along now, little lord,” Eren sneered, hands closing into fists, chin high, eyes on fire.

 

The noble didn’t exactly run, but it was a near thing, quick steps fleeing quickly out the door and down the hall.  It took all of Eren’s willpower to tamp down on the predator in him that wanted to give chase, but he did. He breathed, and forced his fists to unclench, and blinked the gold from his eyes.

 

Breathed, and walked to the edge of the balcony, letting the sight of his mates pressed in close to one another soothe everything that had riled in him.

 

_ Mine,  _ he thought, fingers slipping up the trace his mark.

 

Levi looked up at him, concern etched in his features, before turning his attention back to Armin.  

 

Eren got a fresh apple, climbed back up on the balustrade, and took a bite.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give me some love, yeah?


	13. Suppress

Omegas living in consort houses liked to tell stories.

 

They whispered to one another late at night about being swept away to royal harems.  Being kept by some noble Alpha, dressed in fine clothes and plied with expensive food, bedding down with their fellow consorts in communal harem rooms that dripped with wealth.  Kept for a purpose, yes, but treated gently and used rarely, left to spend most of their days lounging in opulence. A fantasy, fairy tales they told to distract themselves from the lack of control they had over their own lives.  

 

From a future that could be bleak and miserable if the wrong Alpha decided to take them for a mate.

 

Even under silk sheets, murmured in hushed tones in the dark of night, no one spoke of love.  It was too much to ask for, too much for even the most self indulgent of dreams. So the less cynical among them talked of finery, and riches, and only occasionally being asked to serve their intended purpose.

 

Armin had never believed them, had never taken comfort in such impossibilities.

 

Ironic, then, that even their stories fell short of the luxury he found lavished upon him. 

 

Given more than he could ever have imagined, yet it wasn’t enough to satisfy him.  Armin had never thought of himself as greedy until now. He’d been blessed with a loving mate, a safe home, infinite wealth, but it didn’t matter.  He didn’t care about gold and jewels and furs and clothing. 

 

Didn’t care about the ghost of a crown already sitting upon his head, the deference shown to him by servants and soldiers and local nobility alike.  Eyes down and voices reverent,  _ yes your Highness, no your Highness. _

 

Armin had been born in a gutter and fallen into a throne.  Still, it was empty. Felt hollow, late at night in the solitude of his room as he feigned sleep, lust slipping through his mate bond in muted but unmistakable waves as Levi and Eren kissed, and touched, and loved one another.  A crown was worthless without Levi to go with it, and gods, that must have been the way Eren felt, too, that suffocating need to reach for more than he was owed. The world on a plate, a kingdom of his own, and yet. 

 

Selfish, but Armin understood.

 

He couldn’t help what he wanted, either.

 

He wanted honesty.  Wanted Levi and Eren to open up to him.  To realize he could be trusted, to consider him worthy of their secrets.

 

He wanted honesty, but the decadence that came with being the Crown Prince’s mate certainly didn’t hurt, especially after the training Levi was putting him through each morning.

 

Scented oil inundated his bathwater, fogging it slightly, making Armin’s muscles relax.  Something floral he couldn’t quite place, but the vial was always full when he picked it up in spite of how often and liberally he used it.

 

Levi’s hands in everything, taking care of him sight unseen.  

 

Taking care of  _ Eren  _ sight unseen, and Armin wished they would realize how foolish they were being.  How pointless it was to try and hide when Armin had already grown weary of their endless dancing around him.  An exercise in futility when they were so obvious about what they really wanted that Armin could smell it in the air.

 

Could feel it now, sometimes, pulsing through his bond with Eren, the barest traces of Levi himself.  

 

A hunger he could sate if only Levi would admit he was starving.  

 

Armin sighed, easing further down into the tub, head dropping back on the soft blanket that sat on the ledge behind him.  He’d already bathed but couldn’t resist refilling the bath and soaking away his sore muscles. His damp hair was twisted into a messy clip on top of his head, strands falling out and clinging to his neck.  Armin’s hands drifted lazily through the pink water, tinted by the salts he’d added, the scent of it coiling into the air like smoke. 

 

Steam rose from the bathwater, too, filling up the room, creeping into Armin’s quarters through the curtained doorway.  It was drawn open, deliberately so, because if these Alphas were determined to play this game slowly, then Sisters, Armin could  _ play. _

 

Levi would be back soon to escort Armin to breakfast.  Eren was already there waiting with his parents, entertaining the nobles who’d arrived the day before.  Normally Armin would be dressed already, seated at his vanity and picking out jewelry and hair pins, but not today.  

 

His patience was wearing thin faster than he’d anticipated, instincts itching under his skin and making him needy.  Armin was leaving his collar unbuttoned further than before, baring his throat more, sleeping without clothes on. When he caught Levi or Eren staring he stretched, let his robes slip up high on his thighs if he was wearing them, or licked at his lips suggestively.  They could scent it, he knew, the way he was almost always wet now, slick dripping between his thighs at the barest brush of skin. It was impossible to miss their eyes flashing, lingering on him. Possessive.

 

Or covetous.

 

He kept Eren up at night until they were both heavy lidded and drifting.  Clung to him in the mornings, and after meals, craving more and more of what Levi refused to give him.  As though his body was yearning for Levi’s affection, and demanding twice as much of Eren’s in turn.

 

He wasn’t sure how Levi endured their training together.  Armin could barely stop himself from lunging at Levi, from straddling him in the dirt and grinding down into him.

 

From taking Levi’s mouth, sharp and vicious, punishing him for making them wait.

 

It had gotten worse over the last few days, until it was all Armin could do to make it into his bath after their sessions before taking himself in hand.  That morning had been no different, and Levi would surely be able to smell it when came into Armin’s chambers, vestiges of raw lust still twisting through the air.

 

Something savage in him took delight in it, that Levi was suffering too, that he was miserable in denial of the things he desired.

 

Armin heard Levi then, moving through Eren’s rooms, careful footsteps muted by the walls.  He reached down to pull the plug from the drain just before the door to his quarters creaked open, and there was a heavy beat of silence, of stillness.

 

“Armin?”  Levi called, questioning, and Armin shivered at the sound.

 

It had taken an entire day of ignoring Levi when he referred to him by his official title, but Armin’s efforts had paid off.  Now Levi called him by name, if only when they were alone.

 

“In here,” Armin answered, sitting up in the tub, water disappearing rapidly down the drain.

 

Levi stepped into the doorway, fingers of one hand curling around the frame beside his head, the other resting on the hilt of his sword and gripping tight.  He inhaled sharply, eyes flaring for an instant before fading back to grey.

 

“I thought you’d be dressed,” he said, voice rough.  Armin shrugged, standing and stepping out of the tub, reveling in the way Levi’s eyes raked over him.  He turned his back, water dripping down his legs to puddle at his feet, and gestured absently towards the hooks on the wall where several robes hung in a line.

 

“Hand me a robe?  I can dress after you’ve done my hair.”

 

A pause, a rustle of fabric, Levi exhaling harshly.  Then his hand was hovering in the corner of Armin’s vision, a thick robe dangling from his fingers.  Armin didn’t take it, holding his arms out instead, waiting expectantly for Levi to dress him. Waiting, and waiting, and Levi wasn’t moving, was barely breathing.  

 

Armin felt painfully exposed, laid bare all the way down to his bones.  Flayed open, and he’d only ever felt so vulnerable once before.

 

Kneeling for Eren the first night they met, Levi’s scent on his throat.  Exposing his neck, waiting for the sting of teeth,  _ you smell like Levi. _

 

_ You smell divine. _

 

Heat coiled between them, thick enough that Armin could  _ feel  _ it there, something tangible.  Physical, and real. The hot water of the bath had already left him flushed all over, but Armin’s face went brighter as Levi stepped in close behind him.  So close that his breath brushed over Armin’s skin, and all he had to do was lean back, and Levi would be pressed against every inch of him.

 

Then Armin tilted his head to the side as far as he could, mate mark blatantly on display, and Levi made a soft noise.  Not a growl, but something higher, something helpless. He tugged the robe over Armin’s left hand, palm sliding against his arm as he drew the fabric up and across his back.  Kept pulling, until Armin could work his other arm in, fitting it into place. Armin expected him to move away, but Levi’s hands slipped around his waist, folding the garment expertly over his chest.  Fleeting touches of skin, and Levi closed the distance between them, peering over Armin’s shoulder to work the intricate ties in front.

 

When Levi finished the last knot he splayed his palms over Armin’s stomach, one sliding down to clutch his hip.  Shoved his nose into Armin’s shoulder and dragged it up the line of his throat, breathing in deep, mouth brushing his skin.  Not a kiss, just the wet slide of his lips, and Armin’s hands closed over Levi’s as if to hold him here.

 

It felt like victory.  Like surrender, and Levi nosed harder into Armin’s mate mark with a quiet growl. 

 

_ “Sisters,  _ you smell like-” Levi cut himself off with a groan, hand moving up to rest over Armin’s heart where it beat wild behind his ribs. 

 

“Like what?” Armin asked, voice a weak and shaky thing, Levi’s hair silky against his jaw.

 

“Like jasmine,” he said, fingers easing down from Armin’s hips to clutch at the inside of his thigh, fingertips digging into the soft flesh through the heavy cloth of his robe, “and  _ want.” _

 

Armin whimpered, reaching up to tangle a hand in his hair, urging Levi’s face tighter against his neck.

 

_ “Levi,”  _ he said, coaxing Levi’s hand deeper between his thighs, need flaring like an open flame in his chest, “ _ please.” _

 

Levi’s breathing hitched, mouth trailing up to the underside of Armin’s jaw to whisper into his skin.

 

“Eren is waiting for us,” he said desperately, like he was clinging to the words, and Armin made a broken noise and shuddered hard.

 

“Eren’s waiting for  _ this,”  _ Armin whined, trying to turn, to bring their mouths together.  Levi was so close, was right there within reach, and Armin wanted to taste him with a need that bordered on frantic.  Levi evaded, hiding his face in Armin’s throat, hands shaking where they gripped him.

 

“The… there are nobles visiting, this is—” Levi hissed as Armin’s hand left his hair and moved to his throat, fingertips slipping under Levi’s collar to clumsily press at his pulse point.

 

Where his mate mark was, where Armin knew it to be.

 

Imperfect, and beautiful, and waiting for Armin’s teeth.

 

“This is what?” Armin asked, unsure he wanted an answer, begging for one all the same.

 

_ “Dangerous,” _ Levi said, and it sounded like a rejection, except Levi kept holding onto him, chest rising and falling too fast, heart pounding so hard Armin could feel it.  “Reckless,” he added, hissed and chiding, as though he wasn’t brushing the slick-wet skin of Armin’s thigh with his fingertips.

As though this was all Armin’s doing, and that was fine, he didn’t care.  Armin would take the blame. It was worth it for what he’d get in return, for all of Levi.

 

Worth it to stop pretending.  

 

To stop fighting, and just give in.

 

Then Levi’s mouth opened over Armin’s mate mark, the barest scrape of teeth, and he swallowed heavily around the need rising in his throat.

 

“A-and… and when the nobles have gone?” he asked, breathlessly quiet.  “Will it still be reckless then?” 

 

Armin listened to his own heartbeat, loud in his ears.  Felt the way Levi’s hands trembled against him. Waited, and waited, the water under his feet gone cold, bare toes curling on the marble.

 

_ “Yes,”  _ Levi answered with unhesitating finality, and hurt swelled in Armin, sudden and vicious and swallowing everything he was.  But Levi continued, hands gentling, breath leaving him in a sigh. “I am not— I am not saying no. I am saying  _ wait.” _

 

Armin huffed, a little petulant, forcing Levi to bear more of his weight.

 

“Until the nobles have left?”

 

Levi pressed a kiss to Armin’s mark, feather light and reverent, sweeter than Armin thought possible.

 

“Sometimes the risk is worth the reward.”

 

Armin took a deep breath and stepped away, walking into his chambers and collapsing into the chair in front of his vanity.  The loss of Levi’s hands on him was visceral, and he gripped the edge of the wood, trying to steady himself.

 

“I’ll meet the nobles at dinner this evening,”  Armin said, refusing to look up. “Send my apologies, and tell them I am feeling unwell.”

 

There was no way he could sit through breakfast with a half dozen unfamiliar country lords and their heirs, not with desire coiling in him until he felt like he might break.  Levi moved quietly through Armin’s rooms, pausing behind him, hovering in place.

 

He reached out and lay his palm over Armin’s throat and left it there, a handful of heartbeats, before pulling away.

 

“I’ll tell them.”

 

When Levi opened the door to leave Eren was on the other side, sitting on his bed with his clothes askew.

 

Bright eyed and animal, breathing hard, hands fisted so tightly it looked painful.  His gaze flitted from Levi to Armin and back again, searching and hungry, like he’d know what had happened between them if only he stared hard enough.

 

Armin thought of everything he’d been feeling spilling into his bond with Eren, and whined, the fabric of his robe itching, skin too tight on his bones. 

 

“We must to get to the dining hall,” Levi said without much conviction, smoothing down the lapels on his jacket and standing up straighter, daring Eren to argue.  

 

“Must we?” Eren asked, getting to his feet with unmistakable intent, lust overflowing unchecked between them.  From Eren, into Armin, back again.

 

From Eren into Levi, who closed the door to Armin’s room with a click, leaving him in blessed solitude, for which he was grateful.

 

Because right then Armin wanted everything, or nothing at all.

 

Their voices were quiet through the wood, but Armin could still hear them, even if he couldn’t make out the words.  Not an argument, exactly, but there was an unhinged sort of desperation pouring into him that tasted like Eren, and it was a few tortuously long minutes before they finally left.

 

Armin took off his robe, and let down his hair, and waited until he was sure they were gone.

 

Then he crept into Eren’s room, and crawled into his bed, shoving his face deep into the pillows.  Breathing, breathing, breathing.

 

Everything smelled like Levi, and Armin closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

 

-

 

It took a chance encounter with a pair of nobles later that day for Armin to realize what was happening, and when he did, it felt painfully obvious.

 

He’d spent the better part of the day in Eren’s bed, but eventually restlessness had taken over.   Armin pulled on a set of gauzy robes, twisted his hair up in a messy bun, and headed to the library.  He usually only wore robes in their quarters now that he had more convenient options, but his throat and thighs felt over sensitive, rubbed raw by his collar and the fabric of his pants.  

 

So he curled up in a plush chair in the corner of the library with a book, silk tangling soft around his legs, bare feet tucked underneath him.  It was hard to focus on the words, hard to retain anything he was reading, but just being out of his rooms was reason enough to keep trying. He could wander the gardens, but the prospect of running into unfamiliar Alphas outside without Levi or Eren by his side made his insides twist unpleasantly. 

 

Armin shook it off.  Light from the nearby window bathed him in afternoon sun, and he stretched in the warmth of it, nodding at Isander as he passed by with a cart of books.  The library had become one of his favorite places in the castle, always mostly deserted but open and bright compared to his room. He could count on one hand the number of times someone other than servants or Eren and Levi themselves had come there.

 

Which was why he looked up in surprise at the sound of voices he didn’t recognize, head cocked with curiosity as they drifted through the stacks out of sight.  Speaking low but moving slowly closer, and Armin trained his eyes back on his book to keep from being caught staring when they emerged from a nearby row.

 

“It’s not unexpected, but still disappointing.  They’ve always been a bit rash with their domestic policies, but to push things so far so quickly is outrageous.  I’d hoped cooler heads might prevail going forward, but if anything he seems less reasonable than his father.” 

 

A pair of Alphas lingered at the end of the shelves, oblivious to his presence.  One older, one younger, similar enough in appearance that they had to be father and son.  The youth spoke up them, louder than his father, more derisive.

 

“You’d think for someone who pulled an Omega from a consort house for a mate he’d be more amenable to rolling back sanctions on the trade.  He’s all but started a harem. To take a commoner as a mate instead of someone in the nobility? It’s shameful. It’s disrespectful to the houses that have been loyal to them for-”

 

The older Alpha cleared his throat, and from the corner of his eye Armin could see them glancing over at him.  He looked up without meaning to at the noise, and the young lord smiled at him, something sharp and unfriendly.  Just being in the same room as them both made Armin’s breathing feel stifled.

 

“Hello there,” the father said, a grin to match his son’s, sly and unkind, “you must be Armin.”  It was far from an appropriate greeting, spoken without titles or deference to his status. Armin wouldn’t have minded had he not overheard their conversation before, but his instincts were running high and he was half-ready to snarl at them both.

 

“My Lords,” he said, like the words tasted foul on his tongue.  The younger Alpha looked mildly affronted, but his father grinned wider, almost pleased.

 

“We missed you at breakfast for proper introductions, unfortunately, though I did happen to catch a bit of your training this morning on my walk around the grounds.  Not terrible for a beginner, I suppose. Bit scandalous. The ring is no place for an Omega, after all. Sisters forbid you be hurt, the mate of the Crown Prince, but…,” he breathed in, scenting the air, eyes flaring bright, “I guess it won’t be long before you’re right where you’re meant to be.”

 

Armin furrowed his brows, as did the lord’s son, and he closed his book and raised his chin high.  Something small and soft inside him balked at talking back to an Alpha, years of training screaming at him to be silent and submissive, but it was quickly drowned out by something else.

 

Something louder and sharper that refused to be ignored.

 

“Excuse me?”  he asked, sitting up straight and putting his feet on the floor.  “Where am I meant to be, precisely?”

 

The older Alpha’s eyes went bright again, and he huffed a quiet laugh and looked towards his son.

 

“Oh, he doesn’t even realize, poor thing.  It happens with newly mated pairs, creeps up on them without their noticing, but fairly obvious to an outsider.  He’ll be in heat within the week, and carrying the prince’s heir soon after. Can’t you smell it on him? You’ve spent enough time in the brothels wasting my coin to recognize the scent of an Omega on the cusp of their cycle, surely.”

 

A merciless sense of clarity settled over Armin, as though he’d fallen in a dream and woken all at once with a gasp.  Suddenly everything made perfect sense. The itching need to be close to his Alphas, the way he craved them at every turn.  Always too hot, skin sensitive and raw, his need insatiable.

 

The way he could not help but goad Levi into touching him.  Why the thought of waiting any longer for Levi’s bite in his throat made him feel like he was drowning.

 

How he wanted insatiably and without end.

 

He knew it was obvious, the dawning awareness on his face, and the nobles looked exceedingly pleased with themselves.  Armin’s lip curled back from his teeth, and before they could speak he called out, forcing confidence he didn’t feel into his voice.

 

“Adrian,” he called, grateful that he knew which soldier was shadowing him that day in Levi’s absence.  

 

Grateful that Adrian was exceedingly fond of him, for whatever reason, following him dutifully around the gardens without the weary sighs he sometimes heard from the other guards.  Adrian stepped into the library, stopping just inside the door and bowing briefly.

 

“Yes, your Highness?”

 

“Would you kindly remove these gentlemen from the library?  I’m not feeling quite myself, and I’d appreciate some privacy.”

 

The nobles were still smiling, glancing over at Adrian with conspiratorial expressions, as if they expected him to recoil at the order.  They were visiting nobility, and the library was available to them if they wished to use it.

 

But not today, evidently.  Adrian crossed the room, stepping in between Armin and the Alphas, hand moving to rest on the hilt of his sword.  

 

“My Lords, if you please,” he said, nodding towards the door.  His eyes were on the floor, but his body was tense, ready to execute Armin’s command by force if it became necessary.

 

It didn’t.  The nobles stood there for a moment, like they couldn’t quite believe some Omega was ordering them around.  Then Adrian raised his gaze and stood up taller, taking a somewhat menacing step in their direction, and they mumbled disingenuous niceties and made their way out the door.

 

Adrian followed them, watching with narrowed eyes as they vanished down the hall before throwing a concerned glance at Armin from the doorway.

 

“Are you all right, your Highness?” he asked, and Armin nodded.

 

“I’m fine,” he lied, schooling his expression into something calm, the picture of unruffled tranquility.

 

Once he was sure the nobles were well and truly gone Armin stood and fled back to his rooms, bare feet ghosting over the marble.

 

-

 

Something feral looked back at Armin from the mirror of his vanity.

 

His hair fell tangled down around his face, cheeks flushed bright, pupils wide and dark.  Now that he was aware of it, the signs were impossible to miss, and Armin tilted his head to the side.

 

Stared at his mate mark, and how it shimmered in the low light with oil from his skin, body readying itself for a heat.

 

To draw in an Alpha with his scent, and Armin’s hands shook as he pulled out the box full of herbs and medicines tucked behind his jewelry boxes.  Not a typical apothecary’s set up, as one might find in an infirmary, but an Omega’s kit. Fancier than the ones he was used to dealing with, but familiar all the same, and he pulled out a mortar and pestle and started measuring herbs.

 

Armin had been making maiden’s tea for ages, even before the king’s decree that all Omega’s in the trade be given access to it.  He could make the other teas, too. Those that lessened a heat’s intensity, or postponed the onset, but Armin had learned the skill from brothel workers.  Heats were profitable affairs, and there was no reason to postpone them, nothing to be gained from muting their effects.

 

But every working Omega in a brothel drank maiden’s tea as their heat approached, and even as an Untouched they taught him how to make it himself, how to blend and steep and stir.  The herbs in this kit were fresher, finer. Fit for royalty, and Armin’s nose wrinkled at their potency as he mixed and ground them. 

 

The monkstill was darker than he’d ever seen, leaves bunched tightly together, hard to break down.  The ochre flowers still held a faint trace of their scent, even dried and crumbling under Armin’s fingers, and the nightroot was so bright it looked eerie, leaving sticky oils on Armin’s skin as he worked it into the mixture.  

 

When everything was ready Armin added it to the steaming water in his porcelain teapot to steep, herbs swirling and dissolving.  It wasn’t the orange-brown he’d come to expect from maiden’s tea, but a richer crimson.

 

He poured it through a strainer and into his cup, the blush pink insides making the tea look even more vivid.  It would be bitter, especially without honey or citrus to dull the taste, but Armin didn’t want to wait. The sooner he started drinking the tea the better.  He could feel it now, the dull throbbing ache of his impending heat, rolling up higher and higher.

 

When he lifted the cup to his lips he hesitated, watching the scarlet liquid swirl lazily.  

 

_ I am allowed,  _ he told himself, and it was true.  Eren’s father had been the one the issue the decree in the first place, and Armin knew Eren wouldn’t begrudge him this, but it still felt like deceit.  Something he should tell Eren about, even if it was his own choice in the end.

 

Armin wasn’t sure he even wanted children, though he’d been raised all his life with the knowledge that it would probably be expected of him eventually.

 

Even if he had, he didn’t want them  _ now.   _ Not so soon after sealing their bond.  __

 

Not when Eren wouldn’t stop playing games and just open his mouth to tell Armin what he was after.  

 

If they couldn’t be honest with each other they certainly couldn’t raise a child, and Armin downed the tea as quickly as he could, grimacing at the sour taste.  It felt heavy on his stomach, as though he’d swallowed a fist full of coins or drank far too much wine. He’d only tasted it once before on a whim, and didn’t remember it being quite so harsh, but it had been years.

 

Armin cleaned up after himself meticulously, rinsing out his mortar, washing the residue off the blunt end of his pestle.  He swept stray herbs into a cloth and tossed it into the laundry, tucking his apothecary kit back into the corner of his vanity and draining his teapot in the basin.

 

A headache was brewing somewhere behind his eyes, and he felt dizzy, stomach aching, a metallic taste lingering on his tongue.  It wasn’t only him that felt off.

 

There was something anxious and worried leaking through his mate bond.  Eren, sensing Armin’s turmoil but unable to break away from his duties to check on him just yet.   There wasn’t anything he could do to comfort him, not without parading into a meeting full of strange Alphas he’d managed to avoid for the better part of the day, and the queasy, unsettled feeling in his guts was only getting worse.

 

Armin crawled back into Eren’s bed, scowling at nothing, instincts still seething when he thought of the nobles in the library.  

 

How they reduced him to nothing but his dynamic.  A meek, helpless Omega, good for bearing Eren’s children and little else.

 

It’s what people had been doing his entire life, and Armin wasn’t sure why he was only now being bothered by it.  Why it took so long for him to realize how small of a box they’d been shoving him into all those years. Grooming him as though for some great purpose, and he wanted to laugh at the absurdity.

 

Armin closed his eyes, and remembered the weight of his training sword in his palm.  The way Levi’s blades shined as he went through the katas with perfect precision, steel glinting in the morning light, and Armin wanted that for himself.

 

To be dangerous, effortlessly.  

 

To be more than an Untouched, brought into a palace and handed a throne.

 

Eren and Levi’s scent surrounded him, and Armin buried himself in it, taking comfort in the warmth of the bed they shared without him, in the velvet brush of their furs on his skin.  

 

In Levi’s words, a promise if Armin had ever heard one,  _ I am not saying no. _

 

_ Sometimes the risk is worth the reward,  _ and Armin whined into Eren’s pillows in spite of the ache in his bones, and slipped a hand into his robes.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there's almost 5k words here maybe toss a few back at me in return, yeah?

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Divine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14052048) by [MaggyStar17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaggyStar17/pseuds/MaggyStar17)




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